Putin To Discuss Ukraine, Security Guarantees, Bilateral Issues With Scholz In Moscow

MOSCOW (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 15th February, 2022) Russian President Vladimir Putin and German Chancellor Olaf Scholz will discuss the situation on the border with Ukraine, European security guarantees and Donbas settlement, as well as bilateral issues, including the work of the Petersburg Dialogue forum and the future of the Nord Stream 2 gas pipeline.

Scholz, who will arrive in Moscow on Tuesday, and Putin will meet in person for the first time since the German chancellor took office. They earlier spoke by phone on December 21, 2021. Before the start of talks, the chancellor will lay a wreath at the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier in the Alexander Garden. In the evening, the head of the German government will fly to Berlin.

Scholz visited Kiev on February 14. At a joint press conference with Ukrainian leader Volodymyr Zelenskyy, the chancellor reiterated his support for the sovereignty and inviolability of Ukraine's borders, and threatened the Russian side with tough economic and strategic sanctions in the event of an escalation.

Russia has rejected allegations of possible "aggressive actions" on the Ukrainian border, which are made by Western leaders, indicating that such statements are used as a pretext to deploy more NATO military equipment near Russian borders, as well as to cover Kiev's policy to sabotage the Minsk agreements on Donbas.