© picture alliance/dpa | Michael Kappeler
Last weekend, Russian President Vladimir Putin launched the idea of the European Union mediating peace in the conflict between Russia and Ukraine. He named former German Chancellor Gerhard Schroeder as a possible EU mediator.
Kaja Kallas, the Union High Representative for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy, immediately rejected the idea of sending Gerhard Schröder as a mediator.
"Gerhard Schroeder has been a high-level lobbyist for Russian state-owned companies," Kallas said before the start of a meeting with EU foreign ministers. "It's clear why Putin wants him to be that person, so that he's on both sides of the table."
The 82-year-old Schroeder was German Chancellor between 1998 and 2005 and subsequently held top positions at energy companies Rosneft and Nord Stream AG, a subsidiary of Gazprom. After the Russian invasion of Ukraine, he refused to distance himself from Putin.
Not only does Kallas find the mediating role of Schroeder unacceptable: the current German government also already expressed itself in the same direction.
In the conflict with Ukraine, Russia is finding it increasingly difficult to gain ground. In a press conference following Saturday's Victory Day, Vladimir Putin said that the war is "coming to an end". Domestically, the Russian president is facing increasing pressure, including from the elite, to stop the war, which has already entered its fifth year. Moreover, the war has also done no good to Russia's shrinking economy.
Picture:© picture alliance/dpa | Michael Kappeler