MOSCOW, November 26. /TASS/. Contacts between Russia and Germany at the level of aides to President Vladimir Putin and Chancellor Olaf Scholz occur periodically, the Russian President’s aide, Yury Ushakov, told reporters.

Earlier, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told TASS that during a telephone conversation Putin and Scholz had agreed to hold contacts at the level of their assistants.

"They agreed that I would contact my counterpart by telephone if necessary, which, in fact, we do periodically," Ushakov said at a briefing about the results of the conversation between the two leaders.

The conversation between the two leaders took place at the initiative of Berlin. Before this, Putin and Scholz last spoke on the phone on December 2, 2022, and they met before the start of Russia's special military operation. As reported in the Kremlin, the Russian President and the German Chancellor discussed the situation in Ukraine, problems in the Middle East, and bilateral relations. The leaders agreed that their aide would be in touch.