In an interview to the Stern magazine, Schroder said that that he had gone to Moscow to spend part of his vacation here.

Noting that he had met with his old friend, the President of Russia Vladimir Putin during the visit, Schroder said: “The good news is that the Kremlin wants a negotiated solution. Russia and Ukraine were negotiating in March, and the agreement on the export of Ukrainian grain was the first success between the parties. It may be possible to gradually expand the negotiations to a ceasefire agreement.”

Schroder described Zelensky’s idea to return Crimea by military means as “absurd” and added: “Who seriously believes that Russian President Vladimir Putin can ever give up Crimea again? The situation can be resolved over time, maybe not in 99 years, like in Hong Kong, but in the next generation.”

Gerhard Schröder served as Germany Chancellor from 1998 to 2005. From 1999 to 2004, he was also the Leader of the Social Democratic Party of Germany (SPD).

As chancellor, he led a coalition government of the SPD and Alliance 90/The Greens.

It is worthy to note that since leaving public office, Schröder has worked for Russian state-owned energy companies, including Nord Stream AG, Rosneft, and Gazprom. (ILKHA)