Putin to Schulz: Hitting Ukraine’s ‘inevitable’ infrastructure

Russian President Vladimir Putin told German Chancellor Olaf Scholz on Friday that massive Russian attacks on Ukraine’s energy infrastructure are “necessary and inevitable,” denouncing “destructive” Western policies in support of Kiev.

The Kremlin said so in a statement released after a phone call between Putin and Schultz, the first since mid-September: “It has been noted that the Russian armed forces have long avoided high-precision missile attacks on some targets in ​​Ukraine, but these measures have become necessary and inevitable in the face of attacks from Kiev. “Provocative.”

Putin also told Schulz that Germany’s and the West’s approach to Ukraine had been “devastating” and urged Berlin to reconsider.

In another context, Putin believed that Moscow should be allowed to participate in the investigation into what he described as “terrorist” attacks on the Nord Stream gas pipelines that pass under the Baltic Sea.