Today the Chancellor of Germany, Olaf Scholz, held a telephone conversation with the President of Russia, Vladimir Putin.
Foreign media reports that the telephone conversation was also confirmed by the Kremlin, according to which it was made "on the initiative of the German side".
"A detailed and frank exchange of views on the situation in Ukraine took place," a Kremlin statement said.
"Vladimir Putin recalled that the current crisis was a direct result of NATO's long-term aggressive policy aimed at creating an anti-Russian bridge on Ukrainian territory, ignoring our country's security interests and violating the rights of Russian-speaking residents. ."
The Kremlin claimed that Putin was willing to resume negotiations for a peace deal.
"Regarding the prospects for a political and diplomatic solution to the conflict, the Russian president noted that the Russian side has never refused and remains open to the resumption of negotiations that were interrupted by the Kiev regime," the statement said.
It should be noted at this point that a number of analysts have questioned the credibility of Putin's claims that he is willing to negotiate, with the Institute for the Study of War saying in July:
"The Kremlin routinely claims an interest in meaningful negotiations as part of an operation aimed at persuading the West to make concessions on Ukraine's territorial integrity and sovereignty."
Putin is also understood to have told Scholz that a possible deal to end the conflict in Ukraine should be "based on new territorial realities," according to the Kremlin.
The Kremlin statement released today added that the current state of Russian-German relations was also discussed by the two leaders during the conversation.
"Vladimir Putin noted their unprecedented degradation in all areas as a result of the unfriendly course of the German authorities," the statement said.
"It was emphasized that Russia has always strictly fulfilled its treaties and contractual obligations in the energy sector and is ready for mutually beneficial cooperation if there is an interest in this from the German side ," the statement further states.