Schroeder said after meeting with Putin that Moscow wants negotiations
Ex-Chancellor Schroeder, after meeting with Putin, announced Russia's desire for negotiations on Ukraine Germany had previously made a “wise decision” in 2008 not allowing Ukraine to join NATO, Schroeder said. He is sure that “it will not work without negotiations” to resolve the conflict in Ukraine, and it would be absurd for Kyiv to retake Crimeas0.rbk.ru/v6_top_pics/resized/320xH/media/img/2/30/756595058182302.jpg 320w” media=”(max-width: 320px)” >
Gerhard Schroeder
During his visit to Russia, German ex-Chancellor Gerhard Schroeder met with President Vladimir Putin. He spoke about this in an interview with n-tv.
The start of a special operation by Russia in Ukraine was the “mistake of the Russian government”, mutual concessions are needed to resolve the conflict, and the Kremlin would like to find a way out of the situation through negotiations, says Schroeder .
He recalled that Russia and Ukraine were negotiating in March, and the agreement on the export of Ukrainian grain was the first diplomatic success between the parties, it can be developed. “Perhaps you can gradually expand it until a cease-fire,” he suggested.— It was a big mistake to denigrate possible concessions to Ukraine as a peace dictated by Russia in advance.
Schroeder said that Crimea is a Russian region with the exception of the Tatar minority, and therefore he considers the thesis about the possibility of Ukraine to return the peninsula by military means absurd. The situation that arose after the decision of Nikita Khrushchev to transfer the Crimea to the Ukrainian SSR can be resolved “with the passage of time”, Schroeder believes: “Maybe not in 99 years, like in Hong Kong, but in the next generation.”
” “It won't work without negotiations”, — emphasized the former head of the German government.
According to the ex-Chancellor of Germany, the situation with Donbass is more complicated. Schroeder explained that the Minsk agreements indicated that the region would remain part of Ukraine, but that the representatives of the Russian minority were to be guaranteed more rights. “But the Ukrainians even abolished bilingualism in the Donbass. To do this, it will be necessary to find a solution according to the model of the Swiss canton, — he believes.
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Schroeder believed that Angela Merkel, who held the post of German Chancellor in 2008, and the President of the Republic, Frank-Walter Steinmeier, made the right decision in 2008 not to allow Ukraine to join NATO. He noted that Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky also recognizes the existence of an alternative in this matter— “Ukraine's armed neutrality without NATO membership, like Austria.”
Distancing from Putin will not do any good, the German ex-chancellor is sure. “I made decisions and I stick to them, and I made it clear that maybe I could be useful again. So why should I apologize? he asked.
The ex-chancellor also called for the commissioning of the Nord Stream 2 gas pipeline. in order to avoid an energy crisis this coming winter. According to him, a different development of the situation threatens to “collide with the consequences,” reports Bloomberg. During the conversation, Schroeder said that he met with Russian President Vladimir Putin during a visit to Moscow.
Schroeder's visit to Moscow at the end of July was reported by n-tv, in an interview with a TV channel correspondent in the Russian capital, he said that he had come on vacation for a few days. The journalist pointed out to the politician that he was located near the headquarters of the oil company Rosneft, to which he replied: “Really? Oh yes, that's right, you're right. At the same time, Schroeder's wife noted that he was not on vacation, but was negotiating on energy issues. The ex-chancellor intends to meet with Putin to discuss the situation in Ukraine as part of a mediation effort to end hostilities, unnamed sources told Politico.
On July 27, the Kremlin announced that Putin had not met with Schroeder, official Berlin called the politician's trip to Moscow his personal affair.
Schröder headed the German government from 1998 to 2005. In Germany, he was criticized more than once for his ties with Russia. In early March, Chancellor Olaf Scholz urged Schröder to step down from all positions in Russian state-owned companies, he at that time headed the board of directors of Rosneft, and was also chairman of the shareholders' committee of Nord Stream 2 AG. In May, he resigned from the board of directors of Rosneft, and later turned down an offer to join the board of directors of Gazprom.
The Ukrainian Foreign Ministry noted that a number of Western partners of Kyiv began to experience “itching”; on the issue of negotiations with Russia due to the approach of winter. “We continue to very calmly explain to them why their hope for a constructive Russian position is not true,” — said Minister Dmitry Kuleba. He called first to “change the situation at the front,” since the course of negotiations depends on this.
The head of the Ukrainian delegation, David Arakhamia, also admitted that the dialogue could resume after Kyiv achieves a strong negotiating position. It depends on the supply of Western weapons, he noted.
Authors Tags Persons
Vladimir Putin
Politician, President of Russia
October 7, 1952
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