Scholz’s call with Putin will open ‘Pandora’s box’, Zelenskyy says

Olaf Scholz, right, during a phone conversation with Vladimir Putin as the German foreign and security policy adviser Jens Plötner and government spokesperson Steffen Hebestreit look on in Berlin. Photograph: Steffen Kugler/Reuters

Volodymyr Zelenskyy has warned that a telephone conversation between Olaf Scholz and Vladimir Putin will open a “Pandora’s box”, after the German chancellor and the Russian leader discussed the war in Ukraine in a rare call on Friday.

Scholz urged his Russian counterpart to withdraw troops from Ukraine and negotiate with Kyiv to achieve a just and lasting peace, in the first call between a major western leader and Putin since December 2022.