Former German Chancellor Gerhard Schröder has been criticized for a private meeting held with Russian leader Vladimir Putin after he traveled to Moscow on holiday to meet him.
Schröder told German media in a lengthy interview that he had nothing to apologize for over his friendship with Putin, whom he met last week during a visit to the Russian capital.
Schröder has come under fierce criticism for his business ties to Russian state gas company Gazprom. He was one of the driving forces behind the construction of two Baltic Sea pipelines to bring gas to Europe, one of which was halted after the invasion of Ukraine. The other, Nord Stream 1, is only delivering 20% of the expected level of gas.
Schröder is facing an investigation by the Social Democrats, of which he has been a member since 1963, over his ties to the Kremlin and his refusal to distance himself from Putin, and could still be expelled from the party.
In a five-hour interview with Stern magazine and broadcaster RTL, he gave no direct insight into the Russian leader’s mindset. However, he said that after his talks with Putin he thought the conflict with Russia was “solvable” but required more negotiations – which Germany and France should lead – and a greater show of sensitivity from the West towards to Russia’s “real fears of being shut down”. by hostile countries, which “feed on historical events” and which “unfortunately were also valid”.
Looking ahead, Schröder recommended an Austrian-style neutrality status for Ukraine and a Swiss-style corner arrangement for what he called the “most complicated” Donbas region in eastern Ukraine . He said both sides needed to show a willingness to compromise.
But apparently he wouldn’t dare talk about the atrocities that have been committed by Russian troops since the start of the last stage of the conflict, including the Bucha massacre, the deaths of thousands of civilians across the country, the occupation from the eastern and southern regions, the forced deportation of thousands of Ukrainians and allegations that the Kremlin is trying to eradicate the population.
As for the dispute over why only a fifth (or 30 million cubic meters per day) of the planned amount of gas is currently flowing through the Nord Stream pipeline, Schröder said the blame lies at the company’s door German company Siemens, which he blamed for failing. to deliver a recently serviced turbine to Russia.
But according to the German government and Siemens, Moscow is to blame for its refusal to take delivery of the turbine, which was recently flown from Canada to Germany after being granted a special dispensation that allowed sanctions against Russia to be temporarily suspended .
“We will be seeing 60 cubic meters, so double what is currently flowing, if the turbine (No. 2) is available. That depends on Siemens as far as I understand,” he said. The same explanation for why the turbine remains stuck at Siemens Energy’s Mühlheim an der Ruhr factory has been given by Putin himself.
German Chancellor Olaf Scholz visited the site on Wednesday, hoping to use the opportunity to, as he put it, “call Russia’s bluff”, stressing that the turbine’s stasis was in Moscow.
Schröder earned scorn on social media and in government circles for his insistence in the interview that the simple solution to Germany’s energy needs, as it faces a winter of inadequate gas supplies, would be to activate Nord Stream 2, the construction of which was completed earlier. it was scrapped by the German government in protest of the Russian invasion of Ukraine in February.
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“The simplest solution would be to get Nord Stream 2 up and running,” Schröder said. “It is completed. If it really gets tight on gas, we have this pipeline, and with the two pipelines together there would be no supply problems for German industry or for German households.”
The German government has no plans to activate the pipeline.
When asked why he had refused to distance himself from Putin, Schröder replied: “I wonder how it would help anyone if I personally distanced myself from Vladimir Putin? … Maybe I can even be of some use. So, for what should I apologize for?”