Scholz urges Putin in phone call to negotiate with Ukraine

German chancellor spoke with Volodomyr Zelenskiy before his conversation with the Russian president

German chancellor, Olaf Scholz, and Russian president, Vladimir Putin, held a rare phone call on Friday, in which the German leader urged his Russian counterpart to withdraw troops and negotiate with Ukraine to achieve a just and lasting peace.

The one-hour phone call, the first between the two leaders since December 2022, came after Putin reportedly spoke with the US president-elect, Donald Trump, with the incoming US administration vowing to push for a swift end to the war in Ukraine.