Gerhard Schröder, still the official head of Russia’s energy giants, visited Vladimir Putin on Thursday at the height of the war being waged by Russian forces in Ukraine, according to news site Politico. The former chancellor, who has been criticized for ties to Russia, arrived in Moscow via Turkey.
The 77-year-old former leader of the Social Democrats was reportedly approached as part of a “mediation effort” by a member of the Ukrainian delegation that held talks with the Russian side in Antalya, Turkey on Thursday. Politico reports, citing “informed sources”.
“Ukraine wanted to see if Schroeder could build a bridge for dialogue with Putin,” one source told Politico. His wife, Kim Soen Kim-Schroeder, posted a photo on Instagram in the early evening of her standing in front of a window overlooking the Kremlin with her arms folded.
What are the intentions of Gerhard Schroeder in Moscow? “Despite the current dramatic situation, the basis of hope that we all have is that peace and security dialogue will once again be possible on our continent,” he explained last week.
Banned in Germany
But the German government assured that it was not informed about this visit. Asked on the sidelines of the European Union summit in Versailles, Chancellor Olaf Scholz declined to comment.
In Germany, the country he ruled from 1998 to 2005, culminating in his government’s 2002 nuclear phase-out decision pursued by his successor Angela Merkel, the former Social Democrat chancellor faced an uprising of “public opinion” . Having become very dependent on Russian gas (55% of its imports), Germany found itself in a dilemma between protesting against the war and needed supplies.
What’s more, in a speech that was called “historic” to Parliament eight days ago, the current chancellor, Olaf Scholz, no longer rules out the use of nuclear power or even the creation of coal reserves. Despite everything, the new coalition is not giving up on the country’s ambitious goal of achieving carbon neutrality by 2045.
Mr. Scholz himself on March 3 called on his former mentor to resign from his posts. “There are no personal matters within the public function,” he said last week.
Director of Russian companies
Thrown out by some of his collaborators, Gerhard Schröder was also called to order by his party.
Mr. Schroeder has long demonstrated his closeness to the Russian president.
He is also chairman of the board of directors of Rosneft, Russia’s leading oil group, and the shareholders’ committee of Nord Stream 2, the controversial Russian-German gas pipeline.
In theory, in June he should join the supervisory board of the Russian giant Gazprom. Even before the conflict began, he warned Kyiv and defended Moscow’s decision to concentrate tens of thousands of troops on the Ukrainian border in response, according to the Russian position, to the actions of the Americans and NATO.
If he had then condemned the invasion of Ukraine, the former German chancellor urged “not to cut ties completely” with Moscow.
(with AFP)
latribune.fr
March 11, 2022, 12:09 pm