Gerhard Schroeder insists: We must negotiate with Putin – there is no other solution

The former Chancellor of Germany insists on his positions, and notes that the only way to end the war in Ukraine is through negotiations. He believes that his personal friendly relationship with . “We worked with reason for many years. Perhaps this could still help find a solution through negotiations,” as “I see no other solution,” Schroeder said in an interview with the German Agency for Vladimir Putin. Chancellor Schroeder and President Putin were associated with a friendly relationship during the period when the German politician of the social democrats was in power. Schroeder continues to work in Russian companies that have a majority stake in Nord Stream pipelines. Although he has described the Russian army’s invasion of Ukraine as a “faithful mistake” in February 2022, he never renounced Vladimir Putin. The leadership of his party, the Social Democrats (SPD, the strongest party in the current government coalition) put him aside for this reason, while he is often targeted by fierce criticism in his country. However, attempt to expel him from the SPD failed. Asked by dpa how he can maintain his friendship with the Russian president while so many thousands of human lives have been lost and Kiev denounces that the Russian army has committed a host of war crimes, Schroeder replied “the truth is that it is a completely different dimension”. He judged and continues to consider that this personal relationship could be useful in solving the extremely difficult political problem, he explained. Besides, “I think it would be completely wrong to forget what we have done positively in politics in the past. It’s not my style and I won’t do it,” he insisted. He also referred to his attempt to intercede in March 2022, a few weeks after the Russian invasion, when he first met in Kiev with Ukrainian parliamentary – current Minister of Defence – Rustem Umerov and then Moscow with Vladimir Putin. The mediation effort failed.