More diplomacy for peace?
Kremlin comments on Scholz’s initiative
09.09.2024, 15:46
Chancellor Scholz has irritated Union politicians with his call for more intensive diplomatic efforts to end the war. Government spokesman Hebestreit has now dampened expectations. Kremlin spokesman Peskov has also spoken out – and sounds different from President Putin.
Unlike Chancellor Olaf Scholz, the Kremlin currently sees no basis for peace talks with Ukraine. “As far as a peaceful settlement of the conflict in Ukraine is concerned, there are no tangible outlines yet,” said Dmitri Peskov, spokesman for President Vladimir Putin, in Moscow. Statements are being heard from various European countries. “But we are not hearing anything about this from the country that is controlling this process, that is directing the collective West,” said Peskov, referring to the USA.
In an interview on Sunday, Scholz spoke out in favor of more intensive diplomatic efforts to end the Russian war of aggression in Ukraine. “I believe that this is the moment when we must discuss how we can get out of this war situation and achieve peace more quickly than it currently seems,” the SPD politician told ZDF. When asked whether there should be another peace conference, he replied: “There will definitely be another peace conference. And the (Ukrainian) president and I agree that it must be one with Russia involved.”
Hebestreit: Scholz does not shy away from telephone conversation with Putin
However, the federal government currently sees little cause for optimism. The Kremlin’s most recent statements on the war in Ukraine “did not give the impression that they were very willing to enter into constructive peace negotiations,” said government spokesman Steffen Hebestreit in Berlin. Chancellor Scholz would nevertheless have “no qualms about having a telephone conversation with the Russian president about this” if he considered the timing to be “appropriate.”
Hebestreit said the federal government could not give a date for the “further peace conference” mentioned by Scholz. This would be “hasty”. He added: “But it is clear that we have the situation all over the world, that the feeling is actually everywhere that this war must end as soon as possible,” the spokesman added.
Green Party leader Nouripour also believes that negotiations with Russia are needed, for example in the form of peace conferences. However, he also admitted: “The will in the Kremlin is not particularly great to hold talks on an equal footing.”
On Thursday, Putin officially declared his willingness to negotiate with Ukraine. “If there is a desire for negotiations (in Ukraine), we will not refuse,” Putin said at an economic forum in Vladivostok. “Are we ready to negotiate with them? We have never refused,” Putin said, referring to possible peace negotiations with Ukraine, which has been attacked by Russia. It is unclear, however, how serious the Kremlin chief is about this. After the Ukrainian offensive in Kursk, Putin ruled out negotiations with Ukraine.
Ukraine wants occupied territories back
All of Moscow’s demands for an end to the war so far amount to Ukraine ceding territory and Russian control over the rest of Ukraine. For Ukraine, this would be tantamount to capitulation. It wants to regain the Russian-occupied territories, including Crimea. However, Western military aid is not enough to push back the Russian army.
In recent weeks, President Volodymyr Zelensky has often called for what he called a “just peace”. An international meeting was held in Switzerland in June on this subject, and a second one is to follow – if possible with Russian participation. But Moscow has already rejected this too.
CDU foreign policy expert Roderich Kiesewetter criticized Scholz for announcing that he would make more intensive efforts at the diplomatic level to end the Russian war of aggression in Ukraine. “The Chancellor’s move was foreseeable, because it fits in with the strategy of parts of the SPD to very subtly push Ukraine into a fake peace imposed by Russia, in which support is gradually reduced and fake negotiations are demanded instead,” the Bundestag member told the “Bild” newspaper.