German Chancellor Olaf Scholz said on Saturday that he plans to speak by phone with Russian President Vladimir Putin soon to urge him to withdraw Russian troops from Ukraine, Reuters reported.
Speaking at a congress of the German Protestant Church in Nuremberg, Scholz said he had previously spoken with Putin on the phone.
“I plan to do it again soon,” he said.
“It is unwise to force Ukraine to approve and accept the raid that Putin carried out and for parts of Ukraine to simply become Russian,” Scholz added, saying he would work to keep NATO out of the war.
Both Moscow and Kyiv reported heavy fighting in Ukraine on Friday, but it remained unclear whether Ukraine’s long-awaited counterattack was underway.
The counteroffensive, aimed at penetrating Russian defenses and ousting occupation forces, is expected to eventually involve thousands of Ukrainian soldiers trained and equipped by Western countries, including Germany.
Russia fired missiles and drones at targets in Ukraine early Saturday, killing three civilians in the Black Sea city of Odesa and hitting a military airfield in central Poltava region, Kyiv authorities said.
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Source: Hot News
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