Scholz ruled out peace with Putin before a complete withdrawal of troops from Ukraine

Germany opposes a “freezing” of the conflict in Ukraine, which would allow Russia to keep its territorial gains, German Chancellor Olaf Scholz said on Friday.

“Russia must understand that it is impossible to conclude a kind of ‘cold peace’ in which the new border with Ukraine will run roughly along the front line,” he told Koelner Stadt-Anzeiger.

According to Scholz, a just peace can only be concluded when Russian troops are completely withdrawn from Ukraine. At the same time, it is Kiev that should “formulate what agreements it wants to reach,” said the chancellor, answering the question of whether Russia should give up Crimea.

Contrary to public statements, Western officials do not rule out an escalation of the war to a conflict frozen for decades – analogous to the situation on the Korean Peninsula, Politico sources in the Joe Biden administration previously reported.

They say that such a scenario seems more and more realistic, because neither Moscow nor Kiev will admit defeat. Moreover, the United States admits that Ukraine’s expected counteroffensive may not deliver a “death blow” to Russia.

The White House has already held preliminary discussions on what a temporary demarcation line that Ukraine and Russia would agree not to cross might look like, Politico sources say.

According to Scholz, “in due course” he intends to hold telephone conversations with Russian President Vladimir Putin, which he has not had since December last year.

Putin “remains open to dialogue,” the president’s press secretary, Dmitry Peskov, replied in absentia. He added that Putin’s goal is to “protect the country’s interests.”