OREANDA-NEWS The visit of German Chancellor Olaf Scholz to Russia before the early parliamentary elections in the country on February 23 is excluded. This was stated at a briefing by German government spokesman Steffen Hebenstreit, TASS reports.

"Yes," a German government spokesman replied when asked about the likelihood of Scholz's visit to Russia.

Hebenstreit appreciated the possibility of the German Chancellor's trip to meet with Russian President Vladimir Putin before the February 23 vote. He also added that the German federal government is preparing a lawsuit against the representative of the opposition Christian Democratic Union (CDU) Roderich Kiesewetter after his statements about the upcoming visit.

Earlier, Scholz appreciated the news about plans for his meeting with Putin. According to him, a new telephone conversation with Putin will take place only when there is confidence that this will be "at least some benefit."