BERLIN, November 14. /TASS/. The Russian side has not received any signals from Germany that a phone call may be held between the two countries’ leaders, Russian Ambassador to Germany Sergey Nechayev told TASS on Tuesday.
When asked to comment on German Chancellor Olaf Scholz’s statement that he is ready to continue dialogue with Russian President Vladimir Putin about Ukraine, the diplomat said, "Such intentions are typically announced publicly." "The German side knows which channels are used to agree upon possible telephone talks between our leaders. We have not received such signals," he said.
The Russian president "has repeatedly made it clear that we are not evading dialogue," Nechayev said. "Another question is its content."
"In the current context, the German side views the withdrawal of Russian forces - the so-called Zelensky peace formula - as a condition for beginning talks on Ukraine, although it knows that Zelensky has banned himself from holding any talks with Moscow. Berlin’s contribution to this process is reduced to funneling lots of weapons and military vehicles to the Kiev regime under the motto of ‘as much as it takes," the Russian diplomat said, adding that Germany has recently announced it will double military assistance to Ukraine in 2024 to eight billion euro. "It should be noted that Germany is Kiev’s second biggest donor after the United States," he added.
The German chancellor said earlier that dialogue with the Russian leader is needed and he will continue it.
Commenting on these remarks, Putin’s press secretary, Dmitry Peskov, noted that Putin is always open to dialogue but such dialogue should be results-oriented.