Scholz and Putin spoke for the first time in 2022.

　　Wang Bin, Song Yao/CCTV News

　　On November 15th, local time, the reporter of the General Desk was informed that Russian President Vladimir Putin had a telephone conversation with German Chancellor Angela Scholz on the same day. Subsequently, the Kremlin confirmed the news.

　　The Kremlin released a message saying that this is the first time that the two sides have spoken since December 2022.

　　The two sides had a detailed and frank exchange of views on the situation in Ukraine. Putin pointed out that the current crisis is directly caused by NATO’s long-term aggressive policy. The purpose of this policy is to ignore Russia’s security interests, infringe on the rights of Russian residents and establish an anti-Russian "bridgehead" in Ukrainian territory.

　　Talking about the prospect of political and diplomatic settlement of conflicts, Putin pointed out that Russia has never refused and has always been open to the resumption of Russian-Ukrainian negotiations. The possible agreement should take into account Russia’s security interests, proceed from the new territorial reality, and the most important thing is to solve the root causes of the conflict.

　　The leaders of the two countries also talked about the current situation of Russian-German relations. Putin pointed out that due to the unfriendly policy of the German authorities, Russian-German relations have deteriorated unprecedentedly in all aspects. Putin emphasized that Russia has always strictly fulfilled its contracts and contractual obligations in the energy field. If Germany shows interest, Russia is willing to carry out mutually beneficial cooperation.

　　Besides, the leaders of the two countries also discussed the situation in the Middle East. Putin introduced Russia’s efforts to ease and peacefully resolve the regional crisis.

　　The two sides agreed that the assistants of the leaders of the two countries will keep in touch after this call.