German ex-chancellor Schroeder says Ukraine peace possible after meeting Putin

Germany’s former chancellor Gerhard Schroeder says Moscow wants ‘negotiated solution’ to the war in Ukraine

Russia has accused the United States of direct involvement in the war and threatened to break off diplomatic relations

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Russian soldiers fire a 2S4 Tyulpan self-propelled heavy mortar from an undisclosed location in Ukraine. Photo: Russian Defence Ministry Press Service

Published: 2:19pm, 3 Aug 2022

Germany’s controversial former chancellor, Gerhard Schroeder, confirmed that he met with Russian President Vladimir Putin in Moscow last week and insisted that the Kremlin is open to talks to end the war in Ukraine.

“The good news is that the Kremlin wants a negotiated solution,” Schroeder told German magazine Stern in an interview published Wednesday. Although Russia’s invasion of its neighbour is a “mistake”, the former Social Democratic party leader said the conflict can be solved.

“A first success is the grain deal, perhaps that can be slowly expanded to a ceasefire,” he said referring to the UN-brokered deal between Moscow and Kyiv to unblock Ukrainian grain exports.

Schroeder, who led Europe’s largest economy from 1998 to 2005, has come under an avalanche of criticism at home and abroad for maintaining his close personal ties with Putin and keeping lucrative jobs with Russian state-owned energy companies.

The former leader’s recipe for a settlement echoed many of Moscow’s demands in the war. Ukraine should surrender its claim to Crimea – which Russia annexed in 2014 – as well as its Nato aspirations, Schroeder said.

Schroeder said solutions to Crimea could be found over time, “maybe not over 99 years, like Hong Kong, but in the next generation”.