EU foreign policy chief Kaja Kallas on Monday rejected the possibility of appointing former German Chancellor Gerhard Schröder as the bloc’s negotiator in possible peace talks on Ukraine.
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Russian President Vladimir Putin proposed on Saturday that Gerhard Schröder act as a European mediator in future negotiations, saying the conflict “could be coming to an end”. A proposal firmly rejected by Kaja Kallas during an interview with journalists before a meeting of EU foreign ministers in Brussels.
“First of all, granting Russia the right to appoint a negotiator on our behalf would not be very wise. Furthermore, I think Gerhard Schröder has been a high-level lobbyist for Russian state-owned companies.”declared the head of EU diplomacy.
Long-standing ties with Moscow
According to Kaja Kallas, the appointment of Gerhard Schröder to the post of mediator would allow Vladimir Putin to be “sitting on both sides of the table” negotiations.
Gerhard Schröder has in fact maintained close ties with the Russian president since he left his position as German chancellor in 2005.
He served on the board of directors of Russian oil giant Rosneft until 2022 and also held positions at other Russian state-owned energy companies, including Nord Stream AG and Gazprom.
Vladimir Putin’s proposal was also rejected by Ukraine and received a mixed reception in Europe.
On Monday, Ukrainian Foreign Minister Andrey Sybiha was asked about Kyiv’s support for Schröder as a potential mediator. “No, we don’t support it.”he replied.
Meanwhile, the foreign affairs spokesperson for the German Social Democratic Party in parliament, Adis Ahmetović, said the proposal should be “carefully examined” with European partners, according to the German media Der Spiegel.
