Exclusive
In an exclusive conversation with the star and RTL/ntv, former Chancellor Gerhard Schröder has confirmed that he met the Russian President in Moscow last week. He is open to a negotiated solution with Ukraine.
By Nikolaus Blume and Gregor Peter Schmitz
Schröder met Putin. The former chancellor confirmed this star and RTL/ntv in an interview about having met the Russian President again in Moscow last week. Schroeder said: “Of course, Germany and the federal government have a special responsibility, especially together with France. My impression is that not enough is happening at the moment, because one thing is clear: it will not be possible without talks. And in general: I don’t want to take away the mediation job from anyone in the government. But why would I stop having conversations that are legal and won’t get me and my family in trouble?”
You can read the entire conversation with former Chancellor Gerhard Schröder here:
As a conclusion of his talks, Schröder said: “The good news is that the Kremlin wants a negotiated solution. There was already a negotiation approach in the conflict between Ukraine and Russia, for example in Istanbul in March. The Turks were very helpful, as they are currently very helpful in negotiations about grain deliveries. One of the first successes is the grain agreement, perhaps this can slowly be expanded into a ceasefire.”
Former Chancellor Gerhard Schroeder: “What I have outlined would be one way to end the conflict”
Schröder again described the war as “Mistakes of the Russian government”but added: “If you look at the problems that are really relevant, they are solvable. First, Crimea: the idea that Ukrainian President Zelenskyy will recapture Crimea militarily is absurd. Except for the Tatar minority, this region is Russian; the former Soviet state and party leader Nikita Khrushchev gave it to Ukraine, which was part of the USSR at the time. He probably assumed that the Soviet Union would last as long as the Catholic Church, which luckily wasn’t the case. You could solve that over the timeline, maybe not over 99 years like in Hong Kong, but in the next generation. Secondly, Ukraine’s NATO membership – fortunately, who prevented that at the 2008 NATO summit? Angela Merkel and Frank Walter Steinmeier. That was a wise decision, and even Mr. Zelenskyj said that there is an alternative, such as armed neutrality for Ukraine, without NATO membership, like Austria. The Donbas is more complicated. The Minsk Agreement stipulates that the Donbas must remain part of the Ukrainian state, but at the same time the Russian minority will have greater rights. But the Ukrainians even abolished bilingualism in the Donbas. A solution based on the Swiss canton model will have to be found for this.”
Schroeder further said: “The real question must be: Do you want to solve the conflict at all? Then there must be concessions on both sides. And it is a grave mistake to pre-empt any possible concessions by Ukraine as a Russian ‘dictated peace’…. What I have outlined would be one way to end the conflict. But you can’t do that as a private person, even if you have one or the other opportunity to share a few thoughts with the people involved. That’s why I thought it was good that Turkish President Erdoğan tried to mediate. But it won’t work without a yes from Washington.”
The former chancellor stated: “My impression is that there are real fears of encirclement in Russia, fed by history. And unfortunately they have their justification… My impression is that a negotiated solution is wanted, and we discussed what a solution might look like. Who seriously believes that a Russian president could ever give up Crimea again?”
Source: Stern
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