Putin issues Ultimatum to NATO leader

Vladimir Putin has said NATO should accept “new territorial realities” ahead of any talks to end the war he started, during a phone call with German Chancellor Olaf Scholz that has sparked concern from Kiev.

In the first call between the leaders since December 2022, Putin repeated Kremlin rhetoric that the “current crisis” was caused by “many years of aggressive NATO policy aimed at creating an anti-Russian bridgehead on Ukrainian territory,” according to a reading from the Kremlin.

Putin also noted how NATO and the West were guilty of “ignoring our country’s security interests and trampling on the rights of Russian-speaking residents.” Newsweek has contacted the German Foreign Ministry for comment.

Any negotiations should take into account Russian interests and “move on from new territorial realities, and most importantly, eliminate the root causes of the conflict.”

Scholz faces political turbulence in Germany, where there will be a snap election on February 23. The centre-left coalition he leads faces criticism from pro-Russia parties that he has not engaged in enough diplomacy to end the war.

The Kremlin said the conversation was at the request of Berlin, which issued its own statement on the call, and that Scholz had “condemned the Russian war of aggression against Ukraine and called on President Putin to end it and withdraw troops.”

However, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said the phone call risks opening a “Pandora’s box” that could play into Putin’s hands as he tries to end the international isolation he faces.

“It is extremely important for Putin to loosen his isolation,” Zelensky said in his nightly speech. The Ukrainian leader added that the call to Scholz “made it possible for Russia not to change anything in its policy, to do nothing essentially.”

Meanwhile, the Ukrainian Foreign Ministry also expressed concern, issuing a statement saying that “long talks are a resource that Putin has used for more than 20 years to achieve his interests.”

“Talk only gives Putin hope of easing international isolation,” it said, according to a translation. “What is needed are concrete strong actions that will force him to peace, and not persuasion and attempts at reconciliation.”

An unnamed Western diplomat told Reuters the phone call “sends a bad signal, especially after Trump’s election”, referring to the US president’s disdain for further Washington aid and his call for an end to the war.

The unnamed diplomat said Scholz could present the call to his constituents to show that “Putin is not open to anything.”