Scholz: West does not intend to change Putin's regime
German Chancellor Olaf Scholz has said that the West does not intend to make efforts to change the political regime in the Russian Federation, despite Vladimir Putin's belief that the European community has such plans.
"We don't decide who stays where," Scholz told DW. "We also do not intend to change the regime (in Russia)."
However, Scholz said that Putin fears that this is the West's plan.
"He will have to live with the fact that the European Union is with him - as a community of open societies, liberal democracies - and somehow hope that freedom is not a virus," Scholz added.
Since Russia's invasion of Ukraine, Putin has been absent from the global political arena. In March, the International Criminal Court issued an arrest warrant for Putin on charges of participating in a scheme to deport Ukrainian children to Russia.
