In a Nov. 3 N-TV interview, Gen. Harald Kujat (ret.), chairman of NATO’s Military Committee from 2002 to 2005, after having been Bundeswehr Chief of Staff, defined a role for Chancellor Olaf Scholz in bringing about a meeting of Presidents Putin and Biden at the Nov. 15-16 G20 Summit in Indonesia. Kujat said Scholz should call Biden before the summit, urging him to have a bilateral discussion on a ceasefire and peace process in Ukraine. Despite the risk of escalation in Ukraine, the situation on the ground is, for now, at a “standoff” which could be used to bring the war to a reasonable end. Any idea from the U.S. and Ukraine that it could “defeat” Russia is completely impossible, he said: “You can’t defeat a nuclear power!”
Putin has shown several times recently that he is open to negotiations, and that Ukraine was negotiating in March and April until stopped by “pressure from the West,” but Putin said he was ready to proceed further. In this conflict “the actual main actors are Russia and the United States,” said Kujat. Chancellor Scholz has a “dual approach,” support for Ukraine, yes, but parallel, efforts for peace. He can’t mediate, but can help “leverage” things into motion, as in the end, Putin and Biden have to talk with each other.
