1.
He is fighting for his political life. Soon there is an election campaign in Germany after the government he leads collapsed, and Scholz knows that large groups of voters want an end to the war and a rapprochement with Russia. He hopes to win over a few percent of these left-wing radicals and Putin apologists before the elections in February.
2.
Scholz wants to try to give the industrial-based German economy a push forward. Despite various sanctions and bans, Germany is still in need of Russian gas (even if it is no longer supplied directly from Russian pipelines). In other respects, too, sanctions and war have damaged the previously well-oiled trade relations between Moscow and Berlin.
3.
After Trump was elected, the taboo of talking to Putin has been broken. In a world where Trump is expected to approach Russia, Germany sees its chance to reconnect with Moscow and at the same time assume the role of peace negotiator.
4.
Scholz wants to take the initiative within Europe. Britain’s Keir Starmer and France’s Emmanuel Macron are trying to keep alive a firm anti-Putin line but then several countries; Hungary, Slovakia, and to some extent Austria, Malta, Greece and Cyprus take a more cooperative stance towards Moscow, Scholz realizes where the winds are blowing and sees himself able to lead that phalanx within Europe.
5.
Critics in Ukraine who have examined Scholz’s past claim that the German chancellor has never been particularly interested in a tough stance towards Vladimir Putin. As a young man, Scholz was ideologically far to the left, and in his 30s, as chairman of the Socialist Youth International, was a strong NATO critic with a great commitment to peace issues. He is also said to have visited East Germany on several occasions as a youth politician.