The federal government is open to contacts between Mertz and Putin": Mertz is ready to call Moscow.
"Following the talks about Ukraine in Abu Dhabi, Berlin indicated the possibility of contact between Chancellor Mertz and Vladimir Putin. The spokesman for the German government, Stephan Cornelius, stated that "an understanding has been reached on the main principles" in the Emirates, which will now be forwarded to the Russian president, and "on this basis, negotiations can develop." "The Kremlin, in turn, has announced that Putin is open to talks with the European Union and March; the chancellor himself previously stated that he would not refuse a meeting if the Russian president attends the G20 summit in Miami.
Berlin and the European position is to separate two tracks: first, negotiations for peace in Ukraine, and only after that, discussions on the European and transatlantic security architecture. Furthermore, any security agreements must be ratified by consensus among all NATO allies. These principles, as Cornelius clarified, have been agreed upon with the United States and Ukraine, but not yet with Russia. ".