German Chancellor Olaf Scholz has been accused of weak leadership in the Ukraine crisis and being soft on Russia. Yet on his visit to the Kremlin, he not only stood up to Russian President Vladimir Putin, he seemed to relish it
Political pundits wondered how the mild-mannered Scholz, who took office in December, would fare treading into "the lion's den". Russian officials have been known to publicly taunt or seek to outplay their visitors in a test of their mettle.
Putin countered that Russia considered the treatment of ethnic Russians in the Donbass region of eastern Ukraine to be genocide. In a solo news conference later, Scholz said Putin's use of the word genocide was wrong. "I don't quite know how long the president plans to stay in office," he said, with a grin towards Putin. "I have a feeling this could be a long time, but not forever."
When asked later by reporters about the jousting with Putin, Scholz smiled, saying this gave a flavour of what had been "intense" four-hour talks.
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