Former German Chancellor Gerhard Schröder says that Russia is willing to negotiate an end to the war in Ukraine. After a visit to Moscow last week, Schröder sees a chance for a ceasefire.
According to him, the Kremlin is willing to negotiate if three conditions are met: Ukraine must abandon its claims on Crimea, as well as NATO aspirations. Furthermore, the pro-Russian population in the eastern Donbass region must be granted special rights, although the area can remain part of Ukraine.
Schröder mentioned a model similar to Switzerland, with cantons having relative autonomy. Whether Putin will actually agree to these conditions remains to be seen.
Schröder is, among other things, chairman of the Nord Stream 2 pipeline. Earlier this year he was also nominated to the board of the Russian energy giant Gazprom. The Russian invasion of Ukraine has not led him to sever that relationship.
However, Schröder admitted in the German weekly Stern that the Russian invasion of Ukraine was a "mistake." He added that the Kremlin is willing to negotiate after he held a meeting last week with Russian President Vladimir Putin.
"The fact that the Kremlin is open to a negotiated solution is good news," Schröder said. He proposed that Turkey act as a mediator, since it must already make grain exports via the Black Sea possible.
Schröder claims that a gas crisis in EU countries can be avoided if the Nord Stream 2 pipeline is put into operation, as was initially planned before the Russian invasion. The former chancellor does not believe that southern Europe will save energy to help Germany, which is so dependent on Russian gas.
The positions of the former German chancellor are increasingly becoming a problem for the ruling SPD of current Chancellor Olaf Scholz. Schröder is still a member of the SPD, but the party plans to expel him. The increasingly angry German parliament wants to strip the ex-chancellor of his parliamentary privileges because of his still ongoing close ties with Russia.