Russian people, not Germany’s chancellor, decide who will head the country — Kremlin - TASS

It’s up to the Russian people to decide who will head the country, not German Chancellor Olaf Scholz, Kremlin Spokesman Dmitry Peskov told reporters, commenting on Scholz’s statement that a Russia without President Vladimir Putin should be the foundation for relations between Berlin and Moscow.
"After all, it is up to the Russian people and not the German chancellor to decide with whom Russia should be," Peskov pointed out.

When speaking about how such rhetoric affected communication between the two countries’ leaders, the Kremlin spokesman noted that Putin had held a phone call with Scholz earlier on Friday. "An uneasy but absolutely business-like telephone conversation between Putin and Scholz took place today," he said.

"Certainly, the conversation can hardly be described as friendly or something like that. It naturally was a tough one. But still, the need persists to maintain such contacts, exchange information and discuss pressing issues related to the special operation [in Ukraine]," the Russian presidential spokesman emphasized.