That was the evaluation given by German Chancellor Olaf Scholtz in the joint press conference he held with Russia’s Vladimir Putin after their three-plus hours of talks today. According to one TASS account, the talks “received high marks from both of them: the Russian president noted its business-like atmosphere, while the German chancellor - that not a single subject was omitted.”
“It was a very intensive, very trusting conversation,” Scholz told German journalists in Moscow on Tuesday, SNA (Sputnik Germany) reported. He said that they had talked openly about all the issues, not along prepared talking points. “This is a good starting point, given the difficult challenges we face,” he added.
Putin and he had repeatedly made clear to each other that they did not agree on everything, Scholz said. But it was “a good message” that there were enough points on which to continue talking, he said. Together, he continued, everything must be done to maintain peace and security in Europe. It was now a “question of leadership” on the part of the politicians not to experience an absurd situation in which war breaks out because of the non-pending question of Ukraine joining NATO. https://snanews.de/20220215/besuch-von-bundeskanzler-olaf-scholz-in-moskau-im-live-ticker-5365211.html
