BERLIN, November 12. /TASS/. German Chancellor Olaf Scholz has said that dialogue with Russian President Vladimir Putin is needed and he will continue it.

"Today, in this situation, it is necessary to speak with him over and over again. I did it in the past and will do it again in the future," he said in an interview with the Heilbronner Stimme newspaper.

"But for talks between Ukraine and Russia a resolute step from the Russian side is needed - it means troops withdrawal. This is what he [Vladimir Putin] is obviously not ready as of yet," he said.

He answered in the affirmative when asked whether his government has a long-term strategy of supporting Ukraine. He pledged that Germany will not slacken efforts to help Ukraine. "It is clear for us that we should be ready for a lengthy conflict there," he said, adding that Germany is ready to support Kiev "as long as it takes," both financially and by means of weapons supplies.

The Bild newspaper said on Saturday, citing sources in the German defense ministry that next year the German government plans to increase military support to Ukraine from four to eight billion euro. Germany’s overall assistance to Ukraine in the past 18 months is estimated at around 24 billion euro.