German Chancellor Olaf Scholz, who took office earlier this month, discussed the issue of Ukraine in a phone call with Russian President Vladimir Putin on Tuesday.
Scholz's spokesperson said that the German chancellor expressed concerns over Moscow's actions near the Ukrainian border and called for continuing negotiations in the Normandy format. Meanwhile, the Kremlin noted that Putin told Scholz that Ukraine "continues to stubbornly evade fulfilling its obligations under the 2015 Minsk agreements," thus hindering the possibility of organizing a new summit in the Normandy format.
Neither side disclosed if the mutual expulsion of diplomats from Germany and Russia was discussed in the phone call.
