Former Federal Chancellor of Germany, Head of the Board of Directors of Rosneft Gerhard Schroeder at the request of Ukrainian officials tried to speak as a mediator in the negotiations of Russia and Ukraine. He told about it in an interview with The New York Times.
According to Schröder, at the beginning of March, after about a week after the start of the war in Ukraine, representatives of the Ukrainian authorities came to him. They asked if Shredder could become an intermediary between Moscow and Kyiv. In response, the politician asked whether President Vladimir Zelensky was supported by this initiative. As the American edition notes, the answer from Kyiv “was rapid, but careful.”
On March 7, Schröder met in Istanbul with Rustem Dierm – a deputy of the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine, participating in negotiations with Russia. They communicated within two hours. On the same day, Schröder contacted the Russian Embassy in Berlin, and asked if his President Vladimir Putin would be able to adopt him. After 10 minutes, as the edition notes, the shredder was given “green light”, and on March 9 he met Putin. The next day, Schröder also talked to the head of the Russian delegation at negotiations with Ukraine Vladimir Midage and businessman Roman Abramovich, who also participates in the negotiation process.
“I can say that Putin is interested in stopping the war. But this is not so simple. There are several points that need to be clarified,” said Schröder after meeting with Putin.
During an interview with The New York Times, Gerhard Schroeder made several anti-war statements: “I think that this war was a mistake, and I always said that way. What we need to do now is to establish the world as quickly as possible.”
The former German Chancellor added that such a country as Russia cannot be isolate. According to him, the German industry needs Russian raw materials, both in oil and gas and in rare-earth elements. “When this war is over, we will have to return to relations with Russia. We always do that,” he added.
In an interview with NYT, Shredder said that he would leave the Board of Directors of Rosneft in the event that Moscow stops supplying oil and gas to Europe, but, in his opinion, this will not happen.