MOSCOW, March 23. /TASS/. Russian President Vladimir Putin focused on Ukraine in his telephone conversation with German Chancellor Olaf Scholz on Wednesday, the Kremlin said after the two leaders’ talks.

"While discussing the situation around Ukraine, they focused attention on problems of the ongoing negotiations between Russian and Ukrainian representatives. Vladimir Putin outlined some considerations in the context of the principled positions of the Russian Federation at those talks," the statement says.

The previous phone call was on March 18. Putin and Scholz have already held six phone conversations (French President Emmanuel Macron took part in two of them). They touched upon the progress of Russia’s special operation in Ukraine and the talks between the two sides.

At Friday’s talks, Putin drew Scholz’s attention to the missile launches into the residential areas of Donetsk and Makeyevka conducted by the Ukrainian military and to the fact that those war crimes had been totally ignored by the West. In addition, the Russian president outlined his assessment of the ongoing talks between Russia and Ukraine held via video linkup, noting that Kiev was trying to prolong the negotiations in any possible way.