15 Nov, 2024 14:55

Putin and Scholz hold first phone call in two years – Berlin

The two leaders have discussed the Ukraine conflict, with the German chancellor calling on Moscow to hold peace talks with Kiev

Russian President Vladimir Putin and German Chancellor Olaf Scholz held their first phone call in nearly two years on Friday. The two leaders discussed the Ukraine conflict and potential peace talks between Moscow and Kiev, according to German media reports, citing a government spokesperson.

Plans for the direct talks were initially reported by German media earlier on Friday, whilethe Kremlin had only confirmed that Putin was set to hold an international phone call during the day, without providing details.

However, German government spokesman Steffen Hebestreit has since confirmed to journalists that the conversation did indeed taken place andlasted for nearly an hour.

According to Hebestreit, the German chancellor“insisted on Russia’s readiness to negotiate with Ukraine in order to achieve a fair and lasting peace.” Scholz also spoke of Berlin’s “unwavering determination” to support Kiev “as long as necessary.”

Scholz also urged Putin to end the conflict and “withdraw his troops,” according to the official.

German officials told TASS news agency that the two leaders have agreed to stay in touch. Prior to the phone call, the German chancellor also contacted Ukraine’s Vladimir Zelensky and intends to talk to him again after his conversation with Putin, Hebestreit said.

Friday’s call was the first direct communication between the two leaders in almost two years. According to the Kremlin, the last time Putin and Scholz spoke over the phone was on December 2, 2022.

The Kremlin has yet to comment on the talks.

https://www.rt.com/news/607703-putin-scholz-phone/

>>21992520

15 Nov, 2024 18:51

Zelensky says he opposed Putin-Scholz call(It’s none of your business tyrant)

Kiev is against Western leaders talking to Moscow about negotiating an end to the conflict

The call from German Chancellor Olaf Scholz to Russian President Vladimir Putin has opened a “Pandora’s box” and given Moscow what it wanted, Ukraine’s Vladimir Zelensky has said.

Scholz phoned Putin on Friday, the first time the two have spoken in almost two years. The conversation lasted for almost an hour and touched on Ukraine, among other things.

“Chancellor Scholz told me that he was going to call Putin,” Zelensky said in his evening video address. “Now there may be other conversations, other calls.”

Zelensky lamented that this would weaken Russia’s “isolation” and lead to “just a lot of words,” without any practical results.“We know how to act. And we want to warn: there will be no ‘Minsk-3’. We need real peace,”he added.

The two Minsk agreements were brokered by France and Germany to resolve the conflict between Ukraine and the Donetsk and Lugansk People’s Republics. The former leaders of Germany and France later admitted they were a ruse to buy Kiev time to prepare for war. Putin cited Zelensky’s open refusal to implement the Minsk agreements as a factor in the conflict escalating in February 2022.

Earlier in the day, an anonymous source in Kiev told Reuters thatZelensky had asked Scholz not to call Moscow, arguing that Russia “doesn’t want real peace.”

According to Berlin’s readout of the call,Scholz demanded the withdrawal of Russian troops from Ukraineand insisted that Germany will continue backing Kiev.Scholz is currently on track to face a no-confidence vote and an early electionafter his governing coalition collapsed over budget disputes.Berlin has redirected billions of euros from its domestic priorities to Ukraine over the past several years.

The Kremlin’s readout of the call noted that Putin explained the root causes of the conflict to Scholz and said that Moscow remains open to resuming the talks that Kiev broke off. Putin said that Russia’s terms were “well known” and outlined in his speech in June.

“Possible agreements should take into account the interests of the Russian Federation in the security sphere, proceed from new territorial realities, and most importantly eliminate the root causes of the conflict,” the Kremlin said.

The call, the first of its kind since December 2022,had been in the works for several weeks and “closely coordinated” with the US, UK, France, and other G7 members, Der Spiegel reported on Friday. It was deliberately timed for after the US presidential elections but before the G20 summit in Brazil, which Scholz is supposed to attend on Sunday. Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov is expected to represent Russia at the gathering,to which Zelensky was not invited.

https://www.rt.com/russia/607711-zelensky-opposes-putin-scholz-call/

15 Nov, 2024 16:40

Germany charges pensioner for sharing meme

A Bavarian man’s home was raided for retweeting an image calling Economy Minister RobertHabeck an “idiot”

GermanEconomy Minister Robert Habeck has pressed charges against a 64-year-old man from Bavaria for sharing a meme calling him an idiot.

Sometime in June, Stefan Niehoff shared a meme featuring a photo of Habeck with an altered logo of a popular shampoo brand,changing it from Schwarzkopf (black head) to Schwachkopf (weak head). Police raided his home in Lower Franconia at dawn on Tuesday and seized his tablet.

Habeck’s lawyers have filed a criminal complaint against Niehoff, prosecutors in the town of Bamberg told the German news agency dpa on Friday.They added that Niehoff also faced charges of uploading an image to X that “referenced the Nazi era.”

The court warrant had authorized a search and seizure of all of Niehoff’s mobile phones, internet-enabled devices and digital storage media, according to documents obtained by the outlet Nius.

“I am 64 years old. I never imagined that it would come to this. This definitely has a GDR flavor,” Niehoff told Nius, referring to the former East Germany.

He said thatofficersof the Schweinfurt Criminal Investigation Departmentshowed up at his house shortly after 6am, dragged him from bed for questioning and confiscated his tablet, traumatizing his daughter– who has Down syndrome – in the process.

Prosecutors in Bamberg have recorded Niehoff’salleged offense as a “politically motivated right-wing crime.” Charges against the man claim he “published an image” of the minister “in order to generally defame Robert Habeckand to make it more difficult for him to carry out his work as a member of the federal government.”

The raidof Niehoff’s home waspart of a countrywide “day of action against hate postings,” in which the German police searched 50 homes and carried out 90 investigations, according to Nius.

“When police are at the door, every perpetrator realizes that hate crimes have consequences,” Interior MinisterNancy Faeser posted on X, bragging about the raids.

The opposition Alternative for Germany (AfD) party responded by reposting the meme on X and accusing Habeck of being a tyrant in disguise.

“This is what would happento Germany under a Chancellor Habeck: thecomplete restriction of freedomof expression by a children’s book author who displayedmaximum incompetence for three and a half years, but still feels called to greater things,” wrote the AfD.

Another German posted a mash-up of the Green’s campaign message (“Only Democracy Creates Freedom”) and a photo of police breaking down a door.

Habeck’s Greensare part of Chancellor OlafScholz’s collapsing “traffic light coalition,” having received15%of the vote in the last election. Their other most notable cabinet official is Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock.

Last week, in a video floating his candidacy for chancellor in the upcoming election,Habeck denounced the “fungus of populism” that he claimed was around Germanyfueled by “authoritarian regimes with troll armies and bots.”

https://www.rt.com/news/607704-germany-habeck-meme-charges/