Germany's Scholz defends call to Putin ahead of snap elections

By Thomas Escritt

BERLIN (Reuters) -German Chancellor Olaf Scholz said his conversation with Vladimir Putin on Friday had given no indication of a shift in the Russian President's thinking on the war in Ukraine, but defended his much-criticised decision to phone the Kremlin.

Scholz's hour-long call with Putin, their first direct communication in almost two years, comes three months before snap elections in which the wildly unpopular chancellor faces a stiff challenge from populists of left and right who are demanding a resumption of diplomacy.

Critics, including Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy, said the call was a breach of Western solidarity for the sake of domestic political advantage.

"It was important to tell him (Putin) that he cannot count on support from Germany, Europe and many others in the world waning," Scholz told reporters.

"The conversation was very detailed but contributed to a recognition that little has changed in the Russian President's views of the war - and that's not good news."

The call comes amid signs of growing contact between Western-aligned leaders and the Kremlin, even as Russia makes small but steady battlefield gains in Ukraine's east.

U.N. Secretary General Antonio Guterres, previously Prime Minister of NATO member Portugal, attended a BRICS summit in Russia, while Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov is expected to attend a security summit in EU member Malta in December.

Donald Trump, now re-elected to the U.S. Presidency, has said he can deliver a quick end to the war and has appointed to his cabinet some security figures seen as being better disposed towards Moscow than their predecessors.

This had implications for Europe, Scholz said.

"In my view it would not be a good idea if there were talks between the American and Russian presidents and the leader of an important European country was not also doing so," he said.