Ukraine angered by Scholz's phone call to Vladimir Putin after years of isolation over war

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has criticised a decision by German Chancellor Olaf Scholz to call Russian leader Vladimir Putin on Friday, saying it undermined efforts to end the war with a "fair peace".

Mr Scholz ended years of European isolation of Russia on Friday evening when he called Mr Putin for the first time since 2022. The German leader urged his Russian counterpart to enter talks with Kyiv to end the war, which began when Russia invaded Ukraine in February 2022. Ukrainian authorities said more than 12,000 civilians have been killed in the conflict, including more than 500 children, a figure verified by the UN Human Rights Monitoring Mission in September.

The phone call lasted one hour, during which Mr Scholz demanded Russian troops leave Ukraine, a spokesperson from his office said. Still, Mr Putin said any moves towards a ceasefire must take Russian security interests into account and reflect "new territorial realities", and Ukraine must not be allowed to join Nato.

Mr Zelenskyy was informed of the call in advance, but said it played into Mr Putin's plans to end his isolation.

"Olaf's call, in my opinion, is a Pandora's box. Now there may be other conversations, other calls " Mr Zelenskyy said. "This is exactly what Putin has long wanted; it is extremely important for him to weaken his isolation and to conduct ordinary negotiations that will not end in anything."

The Kremlin described the call as "extremely positive". The call comes as the Ukrainians fear possible cuts or a total halt in military and economic support from the US as Donald Trump's presidency approaches. Defence experts told The National that any loss of US funding could have a significant impact on the battlefield scenario as only European nations would be left arming Ukraine.

Throughout the election campaign, Mr Trump criticised the tens of billions of dollars in aid provided for Ukraine and he promised he would resolve the conflict "in 24 hours". Speaking at his Mar-a-Lago resort in Palm Beach, Florida on Friday, Mr Trump said "we're going to work very hard on Russia and Ukraine. It's got to stop."

The Kremlin said Mr Putin had told Mr Scholz that Russia was willing to look at energy deals if Germany was interested. Germany was heavily reliant on Russian gas before the war but direct shipments ceased when pipelines under the Baltic Sea were blown up in 2022.

Mr Scholz plans to brief Mr Zelenskyy, Germany's allies, partners and the heads of the European Union and Nato on the outcome of Friday's call, German officials said. Mr Putin and Mr Scholz agreed to stay in contact, they added.