Majority of Germans want Scholz to speak with Putin

A clear majority of Germans would like to see Chancellor Olaf Scholz resume dialogue with Russian President Vladimir Putin after almost two years of silence, reported dpa, quoting a survey released on Friday.

The poll, conducted by the opinion research institute YouGov on behalf of dpa, showed that 59% were in favour of the two leaders talking on the phone. Only 26% were against it, while 15% did not provide an answer.

In east Germany, 68% of those surveyed wanted the two to talk, while 19% did not.

Scholz has been campaigning several weeks now for another Ukraine peace conference in which Russia should also take part. Putin was not invited to the first peace summit in Switzerland in June.

On Friday, Scholz was set to meet with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky in Berlin for the third time in five weeks. The talks are likely to focus on efforts to find a peaceful solution to the war, which Russia started in February 2022. The two will also likely speak about further military support for Ukraine.

Scholz and Putin last spoke on the phone on December 2, 2022, but the German chancellor has repeatedly made it clear that he can envision speaking with Putin again.

There is speculation that a phone call could take place before the G20 summit in Rio de Janeiro on November 18 and 19. Russia will take part in that meeting, although it is unclear if Putin himself will attend.

Nearly half surveyed want Ukraine to give up territory

Germans are divided on the question of whether Ukraine should give up part of its territory for peace with Russia. Some 39% say it should not give up an inch. But 22% believe that Ukraine should give up the Ukrainian peninsula of Crimea, which was illegally annexed by Russia 10 years ago.

Another 23% argue that Kiev should give up not only Crimea but also territories that have been occupied by Russia since its full-scale invasion more than two years ago. Combined, 45% of respondents are in favour of giving up territory.

Disagreement over permission for long-range weapons

There is also disagreement on the question of whether Ukraine should be allowed to fire long-range Western weapons deep into Russian territory. Of those polled, 42% are in favour and 43% are against.

Zelensky has long been calling on his Western allies for such permission, saying without this it is like trying to fight with your hands tied.

Scholz is sceptical about this. Unlike the United States, Britain and France, so far Germany has not supplied long-range weapons to Ukraine. Scholz has been consistently unwilling to provide Kiev with the Taurus cruise missile, which has a range of 500 kilometres, because he fears that Germany and NATO could then be drawn into the war.