Russian President Vladimir Putin told German Chancellor Olaf Scholz in a phone call on Friday that the position of Western states on Ukraine is “destructive” and that Germany should reconsider its approach, according to a statement by the Kremlin.
“Attention has been drawn to the destructive line of Western states, including Germany, pumping up the Kyiv regime with weapons, training the Ukrainian military. All this, as well as comprehensive political and financial support for Ukraine, leads to the fact that Kyiv completely rejects the idea of any negotiations,” reads the statement.
“In addition, this stimulates radical Ukrainian nationalists to commit more and more bloody crimes against the civilian population,” the Kremlin claimed.
Putin “called on the German side to reconsider its approaches in the context of the Ukrainian events,” according to the Kremlin.
During the call, the Kremlin said that the Russian military “had long refrained from targeted missile strikes against certain targets on the territory of Ukraine, but now such measures have become a forced and inevitable response to Kyiv’s provocative attacks against Russian civilian infrastructure.”
This “Russian civilian infrastructure” includes, according to the Kremlin, the Crimean bridge, energy facilities, as well a “terrorist act” against the Nord Stream and Nord Stream 2 gas pipelines, which requires “a transparent investigation with the participation of Russian specialized structures.”
Swedish and Danish authorities have been investigating four holes in the Nord Stream 1 and 2 pipelines which link Russia and Germany via the Baltic Sea. Both pipelines have been flashpoints in an escalating energy war between European capitals and Moscow since the February invasion of Ukraine.
Western nations have previously said that the leaks, which were first discovered on September 26, were likely the result of sabotage. Denmark last month said a preliminary investigation had shown they were caused by powerful explosions.
