German chancellor’s conversation Friday with Russian leader undermines efforts to isolate Moscow, Ukrainian president says.

A senior US foreign policy official said that German Chancellor Olaf Scholz's decision to speak with Russian President Vladimir Putin did not break with the joint stance of the Western allies with regard to the war in Ukraine.

German Chancellor Olaf Scholz said his conversation with Vladimir Putin on Friday had given no indication of a shift in the Russian President's thinking on the war in Ukraine but defended his much-criticised decision to phone the Kremlin.