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German Chancellor Olaf Scholz has spoken to Russian President Vladimir Putin for the first time in almost two years, as Western powers brace for a new Trump administration that has made ending the war in Ukraine a priority.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said on Friday that “Olaf’s call is, in my opinion, a Pandora’s box” because resuming contacts with Western leaders was “exactly what Putin has wanted for a long time” – ending Russia’s isolation.

The call came at a critical time for Ukraine, with Russian forces intensifying their attacks and pushing into Ukrainian territory faster than at any time since 2022.

Trump’s victory in last week’s US presidential election has also cast doubt on future US aid to Kiev. The president-elect vowed to strike a “fair and quick deal” to end the war before the Nov. 5 election.

Zelenskyy expressed doubts about what possible negotiations with Putin could yield, given the Russian leader’s record of holding talks that “lead to nothing, as he has been doing for decades.” This allowed Russia to change nothing in its policies, do nothing substantive, and ultimately led to this war.”

Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov praised Scholz’s “political will to hear (Russia’s) position firsthand” and described the discussions as “detailed and open,” while acknowledging there were no “shared opinions” .

Putin reiterated demands he made earlier this summer as a condition for talks, Peskov said. These include Ukraine handing control of four partially occupied eastern provinces to Russia, a complete lifting of Western sanctions on Moscow, and a pledge by Kiev to no longer pursue NATO membership or ever develop nuclear weapons. Russia also continues to pursue what it calls the “demilitarization” and “denazification” of Ukraine, two vague goals it set for itself at the outset of the invasion.

“Putin told Scholz in detail how we see what is happening and how the situation could possibly develop. Scholz returned to his position, which is known and repeated several times a day like a mantra by all European representatives,” Peskov said.

Scholz’s spokesman Steffen Hebestreit said the German leader “condemned Russia’s war of aggression against Ukraine and called on President Putin to end it and withdraw his troops.”

He added that the chancellor also emphasized Germany’s “steadfast determination” to support Ukraine in its fight against Russian aggression “for as long as necessary.”

Officials said Scholz and Putin had “agreed to remain in touch.”

The conversation also came at a difficult time for Scholz, who pulled the plug on his coalition government last week, paving the way for early elections on February 23 next year. Current polls show that his Social Democrats (SPD) are heading for a heavy defeat.

In recent months, Scholz has been pushing for a new peace conference in Ukraine, which ideally would include Russia. This would be a follow-up to the conference held in Switzerland last summer, which Russia did not attend.

The German leader’s last physical meeting with Putin took place in Moscow, just a few days before he unleashed his full-scale invasion of Ukraine.

But in recent days, Scholz emphasized that he was ready to talk to Putin and was waiting for the right moment.

Berlin said Scholz had called Zelenskyy before Friday’s call and would do so again afterward.

German officials said that in his conversation with Putin, Scholz specifically condemned Russian airstrikes on civilian infrastructure in Ukraine, saying the war had brought “death, suffering and destruction to Ukraine for almost 1,000 days.”

They said he also made clear that the deployment of North Korean soldiers on combat missions in Russia represented a “serious escalation and expansion of the conflict.”

The officials said Scholz had emphasized the “long-term nature” of Germany’s support for Ukraine and told Putin he “could not count on time being on his side.”

Berlin will inform its allies and partners, as well as EU and NATO leaders, about the content of the conversation, government sources said.

Germany is the second largest provider of military aid to Ukraine after the US and has donated almost 30 billion euros to the country since the start of the war.

Just last month, Scholz promised another 1.4 billion euros in military aid to Ukraine by the end of the year. The package, which is offered jointly with Belgium, Denmark and Norway, includes Iris-T air defense systems, but also tanks, armored vehicles, combat drones, radar systems and artillery ammunition.

However, Scholz has rejected Ukrainian demands to supply German Taurus cruise missiles, which have a range of up to 500 km, saying such a move could lead to Germany becoming a party to the war.

Many in Scholz’s SPD are also concerned about growing signs of war fatigue among German voters. The far-right Alternative for Germany and the left-wing Sahra Wagenknecht Alliance, both of which are demanding an immediate halt to German arms supplies to Ukraine and talks to end the war, have seen their support grow in recent months.