'End attack on Ukraine': Scholz to Putin in first G-20 call since war

BERLIN - German Chancellor Olaf Scholz said on Nov 22 that he urged Vladimir Putin to end

Moscow’s war on Ukraine

and withdraw all troops from the country, in the first Group of 20 (G-20) video call the Russian president participated in since the conflict.

“I called on President Putin to end his attack on Ukraine and withdraw troops from Ukraine’s territory, so that this war can finally end,” Mr Scholz told journalists, at a press conference in Berlin alongside Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni.

Mr

Putin’s virtual presence at the G-20 summit

was “easy” because he did not have to leave Moscow, said Ms Meloni, who also participated in the virtual meeting.

Ms Meloni welcomed Mr Putin’s offer to work towards peace in Ukraine, but added “we must not forget that in Ukraine there is an aggressor and a (party that was) attacked.”

“It is simply enough for Russia to withdraw its troops from the invaded territory”.

Mr Putin did not travel to the last two G-20 summits – hosted by India in this September and in Indonesia last year, sending Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov in his place.

Mr Putin has taken few trips outside Russia since

the International Criminal Court (ICC) issued an arrest warrant for the Russian leader

over the unlawful deportation of Ukrainian children.

The G-20 comprises 19 of the world’s largest economies plus the European Union and the African Union. AFP