Gerhard Schröder could act as a peace mediator in the Ukraine conflict. But the former chancellor had recently come under sharp criticism. That has consequences.
- Former Chancellor Gerhard Schröder* is probably in Moscow for talks about the Ukraine war, the media report (see first report).
- Kremlin spokesman Peskov is now commenting on this for the first time (see update from March 11, 12 p.m.).
- The DFB withdraws Schröder’s honorary membership (see update from March 11, 12:30 p.m.).
- Chancellor Olaf Scholz * did not want to comment on the topic on Thursday. SPD leader Lars Klingbeil was also surprised (Update from March 11, 11:15 a.m).
Update from March 11, 12:30 p.m.: The German Football Association has withdrawn honorary membership from former Chancellor Gerhard Schröder. The decision was made by the DFB Bundestag on Friday in Bonn without a dissenting vote. Schröder has been under a lot of pressure since the start of the Russian war of aggression in Ukraine – the former chancellor has not yet condemned the actions of Russian President Vladimir Putin and is still holding on to his posts in Russian state-owned companies.
“There is no justification for the illegal attack on Ukraine. Anyone who, out of consideration for personal interests, does not clearly distance himself from the war and its aggressor and, moreover, does not take the necessary business consequences, does not share the values of football and the German Football Association,” wrote the two DFB interim presidents Rainer Koch and Hans -Joachim Watzke in a joint statement. Schröder could “thus no longer be an honorary member of our association, which advocates understanding between people and rejects any form of violence”.
Schröder’s role in the Ukraine war: Kremlin spokesman “cannot say anything”
Update from March 11, 12 p.m.: Kremlin spokesman Dmitri Peskov has not confirmed reports that former Chancellor Gerhard Schröder had talks with Russian President Vladimir Putin. When asked by journalists about a meeting between the SPD politician and the head of the Kremlin, Peskov said on Friday in Moscow, according to the Interfax agency: “I have no information about Schröder. I can’t tell you anything.” According to information from the German Press Agency, a first meeting took place on Thursday (see update from March 11, 6.50 a.m.).
Schröder as a mediator in the Ukraine war? Klingbeil surprised, but inclined to the idea
Update from March 11, 11:15 a.m.: Apparently without prior agreement, former Chancellor Gerhard Schröder traveled to Moscow on Thursday for talks with Vladimir Putin. SPD leader Lars Klingbeil was surprised in the ZDF talk “Maybrit Illner” – but quite inclined to the idea. “Conversational situations that are now being created” are initially something reasonable, he explained. The aim of all undertakings is to persuade Putin to agree to a ceasefire “to end this terrible war,” according to Klingbeil.
The federal government had previously announced that the trip had not been agreed with her. Chancellor Olaf Scholz (SPD) only said on the sidelines of the EU summit in Versailles about the reports on the trip: “I don’t want to comment on that.”
Update from March 11, 6:50 a.m.: Former Chancellor Gerhard Schröder is in Moscow to hold talks with Russian President Vladimir Putin about the Ukraine war. Corresponding reports of the news portal political and the Bild newspaper were confirmed to the German Press Agency. According to dpa information, a first meeting between Schröder and Putin took place on Thursday. It was initially unclear whether more were planned.
The chairman of the foreign affairs committee in the Bundestag, Michael Roth (SPD), welcomed the alleged efforts of the former chancellor. “If that’s really the case, I sincerely wish you all the best,” said Roth on Thursday evening on ZDF’s “heute journal”. “Every chance should be taken to silence the guns.”
Schröder in Moscow: Former chancellor apparently meets Putin – wife causes a stir with a photo
Update from March 10, 10:00 p.m.: While reports about former Chancellor Gerhard Schröder’s trip to Moscow to mediate in the Ukraine war are piling up and causing a stir, Schröder’s wife Soyeon Schröder-Kim has now posted a photo of herself with folded hands and closed eyes on her Instagram page St. Basil’s Cathedral on Red Square in Moscow can be seen in the background. She did not comment on this picture.
Update from March 10, 8:30 p.m.: According to the Ukrainian ambassador in Germany, he has no knowledge of an alleged mediation attempt by Chancellor Gerhard Schröder in the war between Russia and Ukraine. Ambassador Andriy Melnyk told the German Press Agency on Thursday that he was not aware of any trip by Schröder to President Vladimir Putin in Moscow. The news portal reported about such a meeting political reported on Thursday. In addition, the claimed image-Zeitung earlier that Schröder traveled to mediate in the Ukraine conflict at the request of the Ukrainian government. However, Melnyk has now denied this. “I find it difficult to imagine that my government asked Schröder to do this,” the ambassador said.
Schröder now hope for Ukraine? Former chancellor apparently meets Putin – but Scholz knows nothing
First report from March 10, 2022: Berlin/Moscow – In the SPD, former chancellor Gerhard Schröder* has become persona non grata through his persistent work as a Russian gas lobbyist and explosive statements in the Ukraine conflict*. Now Schröder could apparently become a mediator in the war, which has been increasingly bloody for days.
Ukraine war: Schröder as a mediator? Meeting with Putin is said to be on Thursday
Schröder will meet with Russian President Vladimir Putin on Thursday, reports the US portal political. It cited “sources familiar with the matter”. The topic could therefore be a peace solution. Negotiations between Foreign Ministers Sergey Lavrov and Dmytro Kuleba had ended a few hours earlier without any tangible results. There was initially no official confirmation of Schröder’s efforts.
Explosive: The federal government apparently has no knowledge of the meeting. As the German Press Agency learned from government circles, Chancellor Olaf Scholz (SPD) and his government were not informed of such a visit. Scholz did not want to comment on the subject in the evening either. “I don’t want to comment on that,” the SPD politician answered a question on the sidelines of an EU summit in Versailles, France.
Ukraine war: Gerhard Schröder and Vladimir Putin – a close relationship
Gerhard Schröder is considered a friend of Vladimir Putin – in a much-quoted statement he defended the Russian head of state in 2004 as a “flawless democrat”. This is not the only reason why there are doubts about Schröder’s political independence in Russia.
The former Chancellor has posts at the Russian energy companies Nord Stream 1 and 2 and the oil company Rosneft, where he is the chairman of the supervisory board. In addition, Schröder is to take on a supervisory board position for Gazprom. Schröder – but also the Nord Stream attitude of the Mecklenburg-Western Pomeranian state government – raised questions about the SPD’s relationship with Russia in February. Chancellor Olaf Scholz had long avoided threats of sanctions with regard to the pipeline. Most recently, the party leadership of the Social Democrats distanced themselves sharply from Schröder.
Gerhard Schröder: Beacons of Hope in the Ukraine War? Ex-Chancellor outraged with “saber rattling” statement
At the end of January, Schröder accused Ukraine of “saber rattling” – by that time there was already a massive Russian military contingent on the country’s borders. In a post on LinkedIn, Schröder also commented on the Russian attack in Ukraine on the day the war began. He called on the country to end the war and the associated suffering for the people of Ukraine as soon as possible. At the same time, he emphasized that the political, economic and civil society ties between Europe and Russia should not be completely severed if sanctions are necessary.
However, Schröder is not the only (ex-)politician to make such statements. The federal government of Chancellor Olaf Scholz is at least against a strict oil and gas embargo – to the annoyance of Ukraine. Saxony’s Prime Minister Michael Kretschmer (CDU) also emphasized on Thursday that a hard stop was “not an instrument to end this war” and also not an instrument to combat the crisis. (fn) *Merkur.de is an offer from IPPEN.MEDIA.
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