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Duda criticizes Scholz's call to Putin, saying 'it's a mistake'

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Duda criticizes Scholz's call to Putin, saying 'it's a mistake'
Polish President Andrzej Duda photographed during a Bloomberg Television interview in New York on Sept. 19, 2023. (Christopher Goodney/Bloomberg via Getty Images)

Polish President Andrzej Duda called German Chancellor Olaf Scholz's phone call with Russian President Vladimir Putin "a mistake" in his post on X on Nov. 18.

Scholz spoke with Putin on Nov. 15 for the first time in nearly two years. The German chancellor condemned Russia's war in Ukraine, urged Putin to withdraw his troops, and discussed potential talks with Kyiv.

President Volodymyr Zelensky warned that Scholz's call with Putin opens a "Pandora's box," potentially leading to "other conversations and other calls."

"I doubt that the German Chancellor's conversation with Putin was agreed with the allies," Duda said.

"Russia is brutally attacking Ukraine, and one of the leaders of European countries, a strong economy, is holding talks with the aggressor. I think this is a mistake," Duda added.

At the beginning of the full-scale invasion, Ukraine and Russia held talks in Minsk and Istanbul in March 2022, but the negotiations were eventually abandoned after Ukrainian retook the north of the country and mass war crimes were discovered in the liberated areas.

In remarks during Ukraine's Peace Summit in June this year, Zelensky said the Istanbul talks failed because of the Russian side's "ultimatums."

With Scholz’s government in shambles, conservative rival touts more decisive Ukraine strategy
Editor’s note: The article was updated to reflect Friedrich Merz’s latest comments regarding the debt brake. For the second time in his life, Friedrich Merz is a step away from taking charge of Germany. Losing the fight to control the Christian Democratic Union in 2002 to future Chancellor Angela…
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Kateryna Hodunova

News Editor

Kateryna Hodunova is a News Editor at the Kyiv Independent. She previously worked as a sports journalist in several Ukrainian outlets and was the deputy chief editor at Suspilne Sport. Kateryna covered the 2022 Olympics in Beijing and was included in the Special Mentions list at the AIPS Sport Media Awards. She holds a bachelor's degree in political journalism from Taras Shevchenko University and a master's degree in political science from the National University of Kyiv-Mohyla Academy.

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