The German news agency DPA is reporting that Chancellor Olaf Scholz had a one-hour call with Russian President Vladimir Putin, the first such conversation in two years

Scholz’s spokesman Steffen Hebestreit said Scholz “condemned the Russian war of aggression against Ukraine and called on President Putin to end it and withdraw his troops”. The chancellor also stressed Germany’s “steadfast determination” to support Ukraine in its fight against Russian aggression “as long as is necessary”.

Ukraine blasted Olaf Scholz’s telephone diplomacy with Vladimir Putin, as many of Kyiv’s allies took a dim view of the German chancellor’s phone call with the Russian president.