Russian President Vladimir Putin was unconcerned about Western sanctions.
The newspaper Bild wrote in a report that “the fact that Russian President Vladimir Putin was completely calm and unconcerned about Western sanctions that were imposed against Moscow shortly after the start of this country’s military operations in Ukraine surprised German Chancellor Olaf Schultz!”
In this report, Bild discussed the content of a conversation between Schultz and French President Emmanuel Macron; A conversation that a journalist called Stephen Lambie, in his book titled “Emergency; “Governance in the Time of War” mentioned.
This conversation, in which Schultz and Macron talked about their phone calls with Putin, apparently took place on March 4, 2022; That is, only a little more than a week after the start of Russian military operations in Ukraine.
According to this report, Schultz told Macron in this conversation, “The situation is not getting better; There is an issue that bothers me more than the negotiations, and that is that Putin never complains about the sanctions. I don’t know if he did the same thing when he contacted you, but when I talked to him, he didn’t mention the sanctions even once.”
In response, the French president also said that Putin did not say anything about the Western sanctions and restrictions against Moscow during his call.
After the start of Russian military operations in Ukraine in February 2022, the United States and the European Union imposed severe sanctions against Moscow and expected to rely on them to paralyze Russia’s economy and hamper its military operations. However, these actions have not led anywhere.
Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said earlier this month that Russia has completely overcome the economic slowdown caused by Western sanctions and “sees good prospects for its rapid economic growth.”
In this conversation, Schultz told Macron that the Russian president “specified his views and ideas on how to reach an agreement and talked about disarmament and de-Nazification.”
The German chancellor also said that Putin “asked him to recognize the Crimean peninsula as part of Russia and the People’s Republics of Donetsk and Luhansk as independent states.” Putin also added that “to be honest, it’s nothing new.”
The republics of Donetsk and Luhansk officially joined Russia last fall after holding a referendum. Kyiv and its Western supporters have called this referendum “fake”.
Also, according to Bild, the German chancellor suggested holding a summit to find a solution to the Ukraine crisis, and Putin did not completely oppose it. However, according to Shultz, the Russian president set two conditions for holding such a summit; One is that the negotiations should not lead to a ceasefire and the second is that they should be held without the presence of Volodymyr Zelensky, the President of Ukraine.
However, not only has such a summit not yet been held, but the conversations and contacts between Schultz and Macron with Putin have also stopped in recent months.
Bild wrote that Macron said at the end of this conversation: “Thank you; This (conversation) was very similar to my conversation with Putin yesterday. “I think (Putin) is now quite determined to go all the way.”
