German Chancellor Olaf Scholz urged Russian President Vladimir Putin in a rare phone call on Friday to begin talks with Ukraine that would open the way for a “just and lasting peace”, writes Reuters.

In a one-hour phone conversation, their first in almost two years, Scholz also demanded the withdrawal of Russian troops from Ukraine and reaffirmed Germany’s continued support for Ukraine.

The call comes as Ukraine faces increasingly difficult conditions on the battlefield amid shortages of arms and personnel while Russian forces make steady advances.

“The Chancellor urged Russia to show willingness to enter talks with Ukraine with the aim of achieving a just and lasting peace. He stressed Germany’s unbroken determination to back Ukraine in its defence against Russian aggression for as long as necessary”, - said the spokesperson.

Scholz spoke with Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelenskiy ahead of his call with Putin and would brief the Ukrainian leader on the outcome afterwards, the spokesperson said.

Scholz and Putin last spoke in December 2022, 10 months after Russia launched its full-scale invasion of Ukraine, plunging relations with the West into their deepest freeze since the Cold War.