By Deutsche Welle
Nov 11, 2024, 00:30 AM EST
The president-elect of the United States, Donald Trump, spoke by telephone on Sunday with German Chancellor Olaf Scholz, and both “agreed to work together for the return of peace to Europe,” reported a German spokesperson.
“The two exchanged views on the German-American relationship and current geopolitical challenges,” said German Chancellor Steffen Hebestreit’s spokesman.
“Also “agreed to work together for the return of peace to Europe,” he added in a brief statement.
Hebestreit also indicated that “the chancellor underlined the government’s willingness to continue the decades-long successful cooperation between the governments of the two countries.”
Trump’s election sparked concern about the effect it could have on the nearly three-year conflict in Ukrainegiven his insistence on a quick end to the fighting and the doubts he has raised about Washington’s support for kyiv.
Russia and Ukraine increase their attacks
Early Sunday morning, Russia and Ukraine launched strong drone attacks, according to both sides in the conflict.
The Russian Defense Ministry indicated that it shot down 34 Ukrainian drones aimed at the Moscow regionthe largest attack against the Russian capital since the start of the crisis in February 2022. According to the same source, another 36 drones were shot down in two regions bordering Moscow and in three other border regions of Ukraine.
For its part, Ukraine was the target of a new “record” attack with 145 Russian drones, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky denounced in X. The Ukrainian air forces indicated in a statement that at 0730 GMT, 62 of the 145 drones had been neutralized over 13 regions of the country.
This occurred despite the fact that, in a telephone conversation, Trump had asked Russian President Vladimir Putin to avoid provoking an escalation in Ukraine, after reminding him of the strong US military presence in Europe, according to media reports in Washington.
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