With the Kremlin signaling an openness to further diplomacy and Ukraine hinting at concessions to avert war, Chancellor Olaf Scholz of Germany headed to Moscow on Tuesday to meet President Vladimir V. Putin of Russia, becoming the latest Western leader to embark on shuttle diplomacy to defuse the crisis in Eastern Europe.
The German leader’s one-day trip to Moscow, a day after visiting Kyiv, comes as the Russian Defense Ministry said that some Russian troops amassed around Ukraine were returning to their bases, a tentative sign that the threat of an imminent Russian invasion was easing.
Mr. Scholz’s visit follows similar swings in recent weeks by President Emmanuel Macron of France and a series of foreign ministers, all trying to head off an armed clash as Mr. Putin has amassed ground and naval forces on three sides of Ukraine.
On Monday, President Biden spoke by phone with Prime Minister Boris Johnson of Britain — the latest in a flurry of talks with allied leaders on the crisis. Mr. Johnson and Mr. Biden have been the most adamant among NATO chiefs that Russia should face punishing economic sanctions in the event of an invasion.
The two leaders “reviewed ongoing diplomatic and deterrence efforts,” and also “discussed efforts to reinforce the defensive posture on NATO’s eastern flank,” the White House said in a readout of the call.
Mr. Scholz, who took office two months ago, was slow to take a prominent role in diplomatic efforts to stop Russia from invading Ukraine, but has been meeting other Western leaders almost every day for the past week. His trip to Moscow comes a day after he traveled to Kyiv, where he assured President Volodymyr Zelensky of Ukraine of Germany’s support in the face of Russian aggression, albeit short of offering any weapons.
In a joint news conference with Mr. Zelensky on Monday, both Mr. Scholz and Mr. Zelensky hinted on Monday at the possibility of concessions related to Ukraine’s ambitions to join NATO, which are enshrined in the country’s constitution, but which Western officials say cannot be fulfilled in the foreseeable future.
Mr. Scholz reaffirmed Germany’s commitment to the principle of allowing every country choose its own alliances. But he also said the question was not currently on the table and urged for flexibility to de-escalate the current crisis.
“There are no spheres of interest in Europe about which other states can decide,” Mr. Scholz said. “But still, we should look at reality and that is: There is a conflict that we want to de-escalate. That is the task of the hour.”
Mr. Scholz said Germany was prepared for “very far-reaching and effective sanctions” if Russia invades. But as in the past, he did not say what those would be — and in particular did not say if he would shut down Nord Stream 2, the nearlycompleted pipeline project to deliver Russian natural gas to Germany.
Analysts note that Mr. Scholz has little of substance to offer Mr. Putin, but that the meeting could reveal whether he is willing to take a harder line against Moscow.
“What people are still waiting to hear is the sentence: If Putin invades, Nord Stream 2 is dead,” said Timothy Garton Ash, a professor of European history at Oxford University. “It’s important because it’s the sentence everyone wants to hear. And it’s the only way to resolve the ambiguity in Germany’s stance.”
