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German chancellor identifies who can stop Ukraine bloodshed Scholz claims Russia holds key to ending Ukraine conflict
(about 3 hours later)
Olaf Scholz says Russian President Vladimir Putin must withdraw troops from the neighboring country as a basis for peace talks Germany chancellor insists Moscow must withdraw troops from the neighboring country as a basis for peace talks
Russian President Vladimir Putin holds the key to ending the bloody conflict in Ukraine, German Chancellor Olaf Scholz has said. He insisted Moscow must pull its troops out of the neighboring country in order for peace negotiations to take place. Russian President Vladimir Putin holds the key to ending the bloody conflict in Ukraine, German Chancellor Olaf Scholz declared in an interview with CNN’s Fareed Zakaria on Sunday. He insisted that Moscow must pull its troops out of the neighboring country in order for peace negotiations to take place.
However, the Kremlin has already made it clear that this precondition for peace talks was unacceptable. 
“It is necessary that Putin understands that he will not succeed with his invasion and imperialistic aggression. And that he has to withdraw troops. This is the basis for talks,” Scholz argued.“It is necessary that Putin understands that he will not succeed with his invasion and imperialistic aggression. And that he has to withdraw troops. This is the basis for talks,” Scholz argued.
Speaking with CNN’s Fareed Zakaria on Sunday, the German leader said Ukraine was “ready for peace, but there must be something done – and this has to be done by Putin.” Ukraine was “ready for peace, but there must be something done – and this has to be done by Putin,” he added. 
He was asked whether he thought there was a prospect of a compromise by which Ukraine could cede Crimea and parts of Donbass to Russia in exchange for certain security guarantees like NATO and EU membership. In response, the German chancellor said the ball was in Moscow’s court and that there would be “no decisions without the Ukrainians.” Scholz’s comment contradicts messaging from Kiev, where President Vladimir Zelensky has legislated to make talking to the current Russian government impossible.
Scholz said the Kremlin had underestimated Ukraine’s defense capabilities and the West’s willingness to back Kiev before launching its military campaign last February.  The German leader was asked whether he thought it was possible for there to be a compromise in which Ukraine ceded Crimea and parts of Donbass to Russia in exchange for security guarantees like NATO and EU membership. In response, the German chancellor said there would be “no decisions without the Ukrainians.”
Speaking on Friday at the Raisina Dialogue, a leading Indian conference on geopolitics and geoeconomics, Lavrov said peaceful resolution to the conflict was contingent on Kiev overturning its own ban on negotiating with Russia.  Scholz also claimed the Kremlin had underestimated Ukraine’s defense capabilities and the West’s willingness to back Kiev before launching its military campaign last February. 
That was an apparent reference to a decree signed by President Vladimir Zelensky in October 2022, which ruled out talks with his Russian counterpart.  Speaking on Friday at the Raisina Dialogue, a leading Indian conference on geopolitics and geoeconomics, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said a peaceful resolution to the conflict was contingent on Kiev overturning its own ban on negotiating with Russia.
Moscow later dismissed a ten-point peace plan put forward by Ukraine in December as unreasonable, with Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov saying Kiev was clearly “not ready for dialogue.” The plan envisioned Moscow’s withdrawal of Russian troops from all territories. 
In early February, Vassily Nebenzia, Russia’s permanent representative to the UN, said the “prospects of peace will be closer when the flooding of Ukraine with weapons stops” and if the leadership in Kiev listens to Russia’s security concerns.