Scholz dismisses meeting rumours, considers legal action
German Chancellor Olaf Scholz firmly rejected accusations of a planned meeting with Vladimir Putin before the Bundestag elections.
German Chancellor Olaf Scholz has vehemently denied reports that he plans to meet with Vladimir Putin ahead of the upcoming Bundestag elections. Roderich Kiesewetter from the CDU suggested such a meeting might take place, but Scholz described these claims as "false accusations" in Berlin.
Scholz emphasized that "honest people have the right to be outraged when false accusations are made. There is nothing more to say about it." The German government's spokesperson, Steffen Hebestreit, also dismissed these speculations, informing the RND portal that the German government is considering legal action against Kiesewetter.
The SPD's General Secretary, Matthias Miersch, described the accusations as "shameful and malicious." SPD politicians are demanding that Kiesewetter retract his statement from platform X and apologize to Scholz.
Political context
Kiesewetter suggested on platform X that an unexpected development might occur during the election campaign, hinting at a possible meeting between Scholz and Putin before February 23. This date marks the parliamentary elections in Germany, where the CDU is currently leading in the polls, with Friedrich Merz as the frontrunner for the chancellorship.
In November 2024, Scholz held a phone conversation with Putin for the first time in nearly two years, which was met with criticism from Ukraine and NATO countries on the eastern flank. Scholz's last visit to Moscow was in February 2022, just before the Russian aggression against Ukraine.