Vladimir Putin congratulated Olaf Scholz on the start of his work as Federal Chancellor. Both sides expressed interest in further developing bilateral ties and contacts via different channels. It was noted in this context that as the First Mayor of Hamburg, Olaf Scholz was in charge of sister-city ties with St Petersburg for many years.
Vladimir Putin spoke about the Russian proposals on long-term legally binding security guarantees that rule out any further expansion of NATO eastwards and the deployment of offensive weapons systems in the countries adjacent to Russia. In this context, detailed comments were provided on the content of the draft Russian-US treaty on security guarantees and the draft agreement on measures to ensure security of Russia and NATO member states, which were sent to Russia’s Western partners, including Germany.
Hope was expressed that serious talks would be organised on all issues raised by Russia.
The problem of settling the domestic conflict in Ukraine was reviewed in detail at the request of the Federal Chancellor. Vladimir Putin gave an extensive update on the situation in this area, noting, in particular, that Kiev still refuses to honour its commitments under the 2015 Minsk agreements, which impedes the potential holding of a new summit in the Normandy format.
It was agreed to continue exchanging views on the topics discussed and other international and bilateral issues during future contacts.