During the conversation, the first one Scholz and Putin had in nearly two years, the chancellor called on Moscow to withdraw its forces from Ukraine and show a readiness to negotiate with Ukraine.

But the conversation with the Russian leader could bring about the opposite of what the social democrat Scholz may want to achieve, Jürgen Hardt of the center-right conservative Christian Democrats (CDU) said in an interview for the public Deutschlandfunk radio.

Putin “will understand the fact that Scholz called him as a sign of weakness rather than strength,” said Hardt who serves as his party’s foreign policy spokesperson in the parliament.

He also said that it appears that Scholz “did not present a concrete proposition or even set an ultimatum,” and that Putin “understands only signals of strength,” such as a threat of increasing assistance to Ukraine.

Scholz wanted to show “that he is in favor of negotiations and dialogue” in a move Hard said was intended for a German domestic audience.

Scholz “intended mainly to make it clear inside Germany that he is in favor of negotiations and dialogue,” Hardt said.

Speaking in defense of Scholz, the SPD’s secretary general Matthias Miersch told Deutschlandfunk that it is important to achieve diplomatic progress regarding the conflict in Ukraine and that the chancellor is in close contact with Berlin’s allies to determine what is feasible.

Miersch also said that the German government always clearly communicates that “there can be no dictated peace.”