BERLIN (Reuters) -German Chancellor Olaf Scholz urged Russian President Vladimir Putin in a rare phone call on Friday to begin talks with Ukraine that would open the way for a "just and lasting peace".

Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk queried the usefulness of a phone call between German Chancellor Olaf Scholz and Russian President Vladimir Putin on the war in Ukraine in a post on X on Sunday. "No one will stop Putin with phone calls,

The Kremlin spokesman referred to the conversation between Vladimir Putin and Olaf Scholz: "As far as I know it was quite a businesslike conversation, detailed and quite frank, as the sides laid out their positions mutually,

German Chancellor Olaf Scholz called Russian dictator Vladimir Putin. However, phone calls will not stop the Kremlin leader, states Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk. "No-one will stop Putin with phone calls.

German Chancellor Olaf Scholz on Sunday defended a phone call with Russian President Vladimir Putin that came in for sharp criticism from Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky. "It was important to say as well that he (Putin) should not count on the support for Ukraine of Germany,