A senior US foreign policy official said that German Chancellor Olaf Scholz's decision to speak with Russian President Vladimir Putin did not break with the joint stance of the Western allies with regard to the war in Ukraine.

Polish President Andrzej Duda called German Chancellor Olaf Scholz's phone call with Russian President Vladimir Putin "a mistake" in his post on X on Nov. 18. Scholz spoke with Putin on Nov. 15 for the first time in nearly two years.

For the first time in nearly two years, Chancellor Olaf Scholz called Vladimir Putin, the Russian dictator. German commentators are speculating about the politician's motivations. Was it the start of an election campaign or related to the upcoming G-20 summit in Brazil?