A joint press conference by Chancellor Olaf Scholz and President Vladimir Putin was scheduled to begin at 2 p.m., but it was announced in advance that the meeting might be protracted.
German Chancellor Olaf Scholz and the President of Russia Vladimir Putin have negotiated in the Kremlin today.
The negotiations lasted more than three hours.
Both presidents believe that diplomatic efforts to ease tensions in Ukraine can be continued.
According to Russian President Putin, Russia “obviously” does not want a war.
According to Scholz, the dialogue to ease tensions must continue. He also said diplomatic means to ease tensions are far from over.
– A solution should be found. It doesn’t matter how difficult and serious the situation looks. I refuse to say the situation is hopeless, Scholz said.
According to the German Chancellor, lasting security in Europe is only possible with Russia and will not be achieved by acting against Russia.
At a news conference, however, Scholz said he had raised in discussions with Putin the economic sanctions that would follow Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.
Scholz also said that he considered it a positive development that Russia had withdrawn some of its troops from the feel of the Ukrainian border.
NATO enlargement was not on the agenda
The Russian president said Russia is ready for dialogue. Putin said the military alliance’s NATO responses to questions about Russia’s security guarantees contain suggestions that Russia is ready to work on.
– I repeat: we do not think that the answers we have received from the USA and NATO meet Russia’s requirements. Foreign minister [Sergei Lavrov] however, told me yesterday that there are a number of suggestions in the responses that we are ready to discuss and that we ourselves have suggested in previous years, Putin said.
According to Scholz of Germany, some of the requirements for security guarantees in Russia can be discussed.
However, he stressed that NATO and the EU do not support all the demands made by Russia. Among other things, Russia has demanded that the military alliance not accept Ukraine as a member.
According to Scholz, the presidents did not discuss NATO enlargement in the east on Tuesday.
At a news conference, however, Putin mentioned that despite NATO’s promises, the military alliance has practically come to Russia’s skin.
Putin: There is nothing political in the gas pipeline
The leaders of Germany and Russia also discussed co-operation related to the Nord Stream 2 gas pipeline project, among others.
President of Ukraine Volodymir Zelenskyi said on Monday that Russia would use the gas pipeline as a “geopolitical weapon” against Ukraine because it could allow Ukraine to be dropped from the gas supply chain.
According to Putin, there is no policy involved in the gas pipeline. Putin promised that gas supplies to Europe can continue through Ukraine beyond 2024 if there is a demand for them.
Scholz said Germany was committed to continuing gas supplies to Europe via Ukraine.
Scholz met with Ukrainian President Zelensky in Kiev before his trip to Moscow. Scholz promised Germany to increase its financial assistance to Ukraine.
However, the German Chancellor did not promise to abandon the commissioning of the Nord Stream 2 gas pipeline, which has been criticized by Ukraine.
The US warned of a possible Russian attack
Scholz visited the Kremlin just before a Russian military operation is feared to start.
On Tuesday, the Russian Ministry of Defense announced that some of the troops stationed near Ukraine have begun to return to their bases, but extensive exercises continue.
Putin said at a news conference that Russia does not want war, but described the situation in the breakaway regions of eastern Ukraine as “genocide” and called for a solution to the conflict and progress in the Minsk peace process.
Putin accused the Ukrainian government of refusing to abide by the Minsk agreements and the agreements reached at the Normandy summits in Berlin and Paris.
Russia and the EU disagree on the status of the Donbass and Luhansk region. According to Russia, the separatist regions of Ukraine should be declared independent. According to the EU, it would violate the Minsk agreements.