Approval for talks was highest among Chancellor Friedrich Merz's conservative voters, despite his opposition to diplomacy

A majority of Germans support direct talks between German Chancellor Friedrich Merz and Russian President Vladimir Putin on ending the Ukraine conflict, the DPA news agency reported on Thursday, citing a recent YouGov poll.

Some 58% of respondents said they would somewhat or strongly support such negotiations, according to the survey. Just over a quarter of respondents opposed the idea.

Support for direct talks was especially high among Merz' conservative voters, with 64% responding positively. The YouGov survey was conducted online over four days last week among more than 2,000 Germans.

Merz has so far expressed skepticism about restarting direct dialogue with Moscow, which most EU nations stopped after the escalation of the Ukraine conflict in 2022.

Speaking to reporters in Abu Dhabi last week, the German chancellor said he was against direct talks which are not part of the trilateral Russia-US-Ukrainian negotiations, which do not involve the EU. However, he said he was ready to talk, provided that he would be able to join the proceedings.

The political opposition in Germany has already made calls for Merz to restart direct dialogue with Moscow.

"Take a step forward and finally call Moscow and negotiate peace and prosperity" for Europe, Alternative for Germany MP Tino Chrupalla said in parliament last month, warning of looming "deindustrialization." Germany's economy has faced stagnation and soaring energy prices since 2022 in what has been widely attributed to the refusal to purchase relatively cheap Russian gas.

More recently, French President Emmanuel Macron emerged as one of several EU leaders to call for re-engagement with Russia, and expressed his concern over being sidelined in the trilateral peace talks in the UAE.

Paris and Moscow have restored technical-level diplomatic contacts, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov confirmed earlier this week.

However, neither Macron nor Merz have made direct contact, despite the move being a relatively easy one, Peskov noted on Thursday.

"If you want and need to, you can simply call President Putin. Putin has never shied away from direct engagement," the presidential spokesman said.