German Chancellor Olaf Scholz spoke Friday with Russian President Vladimir Putin, in the Kremlin leader’s first publicly announced conversation with the sitting head of a major Western power in nearly two years.

Olaf Scholz held a phone call with Vladimir Putin on Friday in an attempt to bring about an end to the war in Ukraine.

German Chancellor Olaf Scholz urged Russian President Vladimir Putin on Friday in their first phone call in nearly two years to pull his forces out of Ukraine and begin talks with Kyiv that would open the way for a "just and lasting peace".