Ukrainian President Zelenskyy Describes Scholz's Call to Putin as Pandora's Box and Isolation Weakening

Commenting on German Chancellor Olaf Scholz's conversation with Russian President Vladimir Putin, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said that ‘this is a Pandora's box’, as this step could be the impetus for further conversations with Russia. Zelenskyy posted this statement on social media.

‘About one of today's news. Chancellor Scholz told me he was going to call Putin. Olaf's call, in my opinion, is a Pandora's box. Now there may be other conversations, other calls. It's just a lot of words,’ the Ukrainian president said.

In his opinion, this is exactly what Putin has long wanted: it is extremely important for him to weaken his isolation and Russia's isolation and to conduct negotiations that will end in nothing.

‘Just like he has been doing for decades. This allowed Russia to change nothing in its policy, to do nothing in essence, and this is exactly what led to this war.

We understand all these challenges now. We know how to act. And we want to warn you: ‘There will be no Minsk-3 - we need real peace,’ Zelenskyy said.

According to Sky News, British Prime Minister Keir Starmer also commented on Scholz's phone call to Putin. He said that it was up to the German Chancellor to decide who to talk to.

‘It's Chancellor Scholz's business who he talks to. I have no plans to talk to Putin,’ he said.

Meanwhile, Polish President Andrzej Duda considers German Chancellor Olaf Scholz's phone call to Russian leader Vladimir Putin a mistake. His office posted a statement on this matter on the social network X.

‘I think this is a mistake,’ the Polish president said.

Duda expressed doubt that the German chancellor's conversation with Putin had been agreed with the allies. He also criticised the fact that ‘one of the leaders of a European country with a strong economy is negotiating with the aggressor’ while Russia is brutally attacking Ukraine.

On 15 November, it became known that Scholz had spoken to the Kremlin leader for the first time in two years. Scholz ‘condemned Russia's war of aggression against Ukraine and called on Putin to stop it and withdraw his troops’.

The chancellor also insisted that Russia should be ready to negotiate with Ukraine in order to achieve a just and lasting peace and stressed Germany's unwavering determination to support Ukraine in the peace process.