- Asked about the ideal mediator to renew contact with the Europeans on the Ukrainian issue, the Russian leader proposed the name of his friend Gerhard Schröder.
- The former German chancellor is a long-time supporter of the Kremlin and has not condemned Russia’s invasion of Ukraine in 2022.
- The proposal is part of “a series of false offers” from Russia, has swept the German government, while the political class is divided.
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Ukraine: the war enters its 5th year
The proposal is already stirring the debate in Germany. Russian President Vladimir Putin proposed on Saturday May 9 his friend and former German Chancellor Gerhard Schröder (nouvelle fenêtre) as mediator in the war in Ukraine (nouvelle fenêtre). A track received coldly by Berlin on Sunday, and which provokes opposing political reactions in the country.
Asked on Saturday about his favorite candidate in the scenario of a resumption of dialogue with the Europeans, the head of the Kremlin replied that he preferred “personally”
Gerhard Schröder. In power from 1998 to 2005, the social democrat, now 82 years old, has remained a loyal supporter of the head of the Kremlin for two decades, to the point of refusing to condemn the Russian invasion. (nouvelle fenêtre) in Ukraine in 2022, triggering controversy in his country. The same day, Vladimir Putin also assured that the war in Ukraine “was coming to an end”
while believing that she remained a “just cause”
for Russia, during his speech on the occasion of May 9, marking the 81st anniversary of the Soviet victory against Nazi Germany (nouvelle fenêtre).Â
“We have taken note of these statements”
about the ex-chancellor, who “are part of a series of false offers”
Russians, government sources reacted to AFP on Sunday. Berlin sees this implicitly “the well-known hybrid strategy”
of the Kremlin and adds that“a first test of credibility would be for Russia to extend the truce”
temporary decreed for this weekend (nouvelle fenêtre)which should in theory end on Monday.
“Not Putin’s friend”: contrasting reactions in the political class
Gerhard Schröder’s refusal to condemn the outbreak of the conflict in Ukraine in 2022 earned him opprobrium within the SPD, the minority party in Friedrich Merz’s coalition, and cost him some of his advantages as ex-chancellor. He also had key roles in the Nord Stream 1 and 2 gas pipeline projects (nouvelle fenêtre) as well as a place on the board of directors of the Russian oil company Rosneft, abandoned in 2022.
A mediator between Russia and the European Union cannot “just can’t be Putin’s friend”
declared for his part Michael Roth, former social democratic chairman of the Foreign Affairs Committee of the Bundestag, in an interview with Daily Mirror
(nouvelle fenêtre). “The main thing is that (this mediator) is first of all accepted by Ukraine. Neither Moscow nor we can decide this for kyiv”
he added.
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However, other members of the SPD, crossed by a pacifist current, are more open to Vladimir Putin’s proposal. “This must be carefully weighed in close consultation with our European partners and not be excluded outright in a categorical manner”
underlined for example Adis Ahmetovic, party spokesperson for foreign affairs in the Bundestag, to the weekly Spiegel
(nouvelle fenêtre). “If we don’t want Putin and Trump
decide alone on the future of Ukraine
(nouvelle fenêtre)you have to seize every chance. Even if it is tiny”
added MP Ralf Stegner in the columns of the newspaper.
In the rest of the political spectrum, some voices even frankly support this scenario. “We should appeal to the former chancellor. What do we have to lose?”
the president of the pro-Russian left-wing party BSW, Fabio De Masi, declared to AFP on Sunday. “There are serious doubts whether this would be a good idea”
replied Marie-Agnes Strack-Zimmermann, executive of the German liberal FDP party, to the newspapers of the Funke group.
