German Chancellor asks Russian President Vladimir Putin to end aggression against Ukraine at G20 meeting
German Chancellor Olaf Scholz said on Wednesday that he asked Russian President Vladimir Putin to stop aggression against Ukraine, during the first online meeting of the G20 attended by the Russian president since the beginning of the war, AFP and Agerpres report.
"We asked him to withdraw his troops from the territory of Ukraine so that this war can finally end," the German leader said during a press conference in Berlin with Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni.
President Putin's participation in this G20 summit was "a good opportunity" to clearly state how to restore peace in Ukraine.
"Russia attacked Ukraine and to easily restore peace it is enough for Russia to withdraw its troops," Scholz said.
For her part, Giorgia Meloni, who is in Berlin for German-Italian government consultations, appreciated that it is "easy" for Putin to participate in the G20, since he does not have to leave Moscow.
Meloni, who also participated online at the G20, agreed with Scholz:
"We reiterated our position" on Russia during the virtual G20 summit. "The easiest thing would be a troop withdrawal," Meloni said.
Russian President Vladimir Putin did not attend the G20 leaders' meeting in September in India, nor the one in Indonesia last year. He was represented by the Russian Foreign Minister, Sergey Lavrov.
The G20 includes the world's 19 largest economies, as well as the EU and the African Union.
