Following criticism from Ukraine and the opposition, German Chancellor Olaf Scholz defended his phone call with Russian President Vladimir Putin. Source: Scholz on Sunday, 17 November, before leaving for the G20 summit in Rio de Janeiro,

Olaf Scholz’s call with Vladimir Putin has been criticised after Russia launched one of the largest missile attacks of the war against Ukraine overnight. Donald Tusk, Poland’s prime minister, said the barrage proved “no-one will stop Putin with phone calls” and that “telephone diplomacy cannot replace real support from the whole West.

German Chancellor Olaf Scholz on Sunday defended a phone call with Russian President Vladimir Putin that came in for sharp criticism from Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky. "It was important to say as well that he (Putin) should not count on the support for Ukraine of Germany,