Sometimes in German, always by you - Scholz gives insights into telephone calls with Putin

Chancellor Olaf Scholz gave an insight into his phone calls with Russian President Vladimir Putin. The SPD politician reported that these talks lasted up to one and a half hours on Monday evening at the "Rheinische Post" meeting in Düsseldorf. The last was last December. Sometimes Putin does without the German translation because he has already understood, and sometimes the Kremlin boss also speaks German - "if it fits," said Scholz.

His talks with Putin are always embedded in talks with Germany's allies, and it becomes clear when an exchange is due. "It's not like I'm sending an SMS and asking: do we want to come back?" Despite the different opinions, the phone calls are always polite. He was with Putin by you, said Scholz.

Scholz sees no possibility of peace between Russia and Ukraine without a withdrawal of Russian troops. "It cannot come down to a dictated peace by Russia towards Ukraine," said Scholz. "We have to be prepared for the possibility that it may take longer," he said when asked about the duration of the war: "It could be out of balance for a long time." Russian President Vladimir Putin must not win the war, affirmed scholz Boundaries should not be pushed by force.

"This terrible war of aggression and its consequences will keep us busy for a long time," said Scholz, also with a view to the destruction caused by the Russian attacks in Ukraine. These would require "a long reconstruction in Ukraine".

Scholz (SPD) also called for far-reaching EU reforms and described an end to the unanimity principle as unavoidable. "It has to be that one country cannot stop everything."

"We must not see the fact that not everyone always agrees as a problem," said Scholz. Ways would have to be found to reach a decision. "We cannot simply leave all institutional structures as they are."

Scholz insisted on being able to decide on certain tasks with a qualified majority and cited foreign policy or certain financial issues such as tax issues as examples. "Those would be good steps."

In view of the blockade policy, especially Hungary, Scholz had advocated in his Prague Europe speech at the end of August for a gradual transition to majority decisions in the EU, as agreed by the traffic light government in the coalition agreement.

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