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Russia's President Putin: 80-minute conversation with Scholz and Macron
Photo: MIKHAIL METZEL / SPUTNIK / KREMLIN POOL / EPA
Chancellor Olaf Scholz (SPD) and French President Emmanuel Macron spoke with Russian President Vladimir Putin for 80 minutes on Saturday about the war in Ukraine.
In the phone call, they called on Putin to start "direct, serious negotiations" with Ukrainian President Zelensky, the Chancellery said.
The Chancellor and the French President also urged an immediate ceasefire and a withdrawal of Russian troops.
According to a British BBC report, Putin said Russia was open to resuming dialogue.
Talks about grain crisis
According to further information from the Kremlin, Putin apparently indicated the possibility of not further impeding the export of Ukrainian grain.
However, he linked this to conditions and demanded that the West ease the sanctions against his country.
Russia is ready to "find opportunities for grain exports without obstacles," Putin said in the phone call with Scholz and Macron, according to the Kremlin.
This also applies to Ukrainian grain in Black Sea ports, Putin added.
"Increasing shipments of Russian fertilizers and agricultural products will also help ease tensions in the global food market," the Kremlin said in a statement accompanying the call.
This requires “of course the cancellation of the corresponding sanctions”.
Ukraine is a key supplier to the global nutritional market.
However, the Russian war of aggression has caused exports to collapse, with serious consequences (read more about this here).
For the Kremlin, the blame for the food crisis lies with the western governments: the "anti-Russian sanctions" and "misguided economic and financial policies of the western countries" are the cause of the food crisis.
According to the Kremlin, Putin had already declared in a telephone call with Italian Prime Minister Mario Draghi on Thursday that Moscow was ready "to make a significant contribution to overcoming the food crisis through the export of grain and fertilizers, provided that the politically motivated restrictions imposed by the West are lifted". .
»To improve the humanitarian situation«
The federal government confirmed Scholz and Macron's phone call with Putin.
The talks took place on the initiative of the Chancellor and the French President, said government spokesman Steffen Hebestreit.
They made Russia responsible for the particularly tense situation in the global food supply.
According to the federal government, Putin assured that he wanted to enable grain exports from Ukraine, especially by sea.
The head of the Kremlin has also promised that Russia will "not abuse it for offensive actions" if the mine belt laid to protect Ukrainian ports is opened for grain exports.
According to the federal government, Scholz and Macron also urged “an immediate ceasefire and a withdrawal of Russian troops” during the talks and also called on Putin to “serious direct negotiations” with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy.
According to the Kremlin, Putin warned the West against further arms deliveries.
Scholz and Macron also demanded that Putin release about 2,500 Ukrainian fighters who surrendered after weeks of fighting at the Azov steel plant in Mariupol.
sol/dpa/AFP
