Former German Chancellor Gerhard Schröder, close to Putin, to be a mediator for Ukraine? Why do experts describe this idea of the Russian president as a "poisoned offer" and why did Putin also hint at an end to the war in Ukraine?
Can the war against Ukraine be ended with the help of Gerhard Schröder? Russian President Vladimir Putin made a similar offer over the weekend - he surprisingly named the former German Chancellor as a possible mediator and even talked about possible peace talks. What is behind Putin's offer? According to Armin Körper, the long-time correspondent for the German public broadcaster ZDF in Russia, this is a "typical Putin-style move".
"I would not expect the former German chancellor to sit at the same table with Presidents Putin and Zelensky in the coming days," says Körper. According to him, Putin has focused primarily on US President Donald Trump, who has recently become increasingly dedicated to the war with Iran. "Putin actually wants Trump to stay in the game," says the journalist, adding that the Russian leader actually wants to negotiate only with Trump and that is why he is coming up with the Schröder proposal to put pressure on him. "Schröder is coming as if on Putin's orders," analyzes Körper, because in this way Putin is including a European as an intermediary in the game.
Publicist and political scientist Albrecht von Lucke also agrees with this assessment. Schröder is in a sense a "poisoned offer" with which Vladimir Putin has already had success: he has already polarized the German federal government and the party landscape.
Von Lucke calls for this proposal to first ask Ukraine. But he cannot imagine that Kiev will perceive Schröder as a neutral mediator. The former chancellor has indeed stated more than once that the war is in violation of international law. "But he immediately added that we should not demonize Russia forever." The political scientist also says that Schröder has never decisively distanced himself from his friendship with Putin and calls him "Putin's man". He has not only been a friend of Putin for years, but also "financed by Putin", says von Lucke, recalling that Schröder was chairman of the supervisory board of the Russian energy concern "Rosneft".
Reactions from Berlin
The reactions are similar among the ruling circles in Berlin. "In the past, Schröder has not done what is necessary to be able to act as a neutral mediator, so to speak, as an "honest mediator", says in this regard the Federal Minister of State for European Affairs Günter Krichbaum. "He is and certainly has been strongly influenced by Mr. Putin - close friendships may be legitimate anywhere in the world, but they do not help one to be perceived as an impartial mediator", the CDU politician also says. Government sources also say that Putin's offer is part of a "series of false proposals - part of Russia's well-known hybrid strategy".
The Greens, the Left Party and the Free Democrats also reject the offer of Schröder as a possible mediator. And there are mixed signals among the Social Democrats. For example, SPD foreign policy expert Ralf Stegner has announced that Putin's offer will be considered. "I welcome any initiative that could end the war", he said. At the same time, former chairman of the Bundestag Foreign Affairs Committee Michael Roth sees Putin's offer as "an insult to the US and a transparent maneuver". "Anyone who seriously wants peace starts with a truce", says Roth. The mediator of any negotiations "cannot simply be a friend of Putin", Roth also says. According to him, it is crucial that the mediator "is first and foremost accepted by Ukraine."
"Alternative for Germany" (AfD), which according to recent polls enjoys the highest level of trust in Germany (28%), is open to the Russian president's proposal. "Any mediation that helps to end the suffering on both sides is welcome," said Markus Frohnmeier, foreign policy spokesman for the AfD faction in the Bundestag.
The friendship between Schröder and Putin
During his term as chancellor, Gerhard Schröder's political position towards Russia did not differ much from that of other German politicians. Angela Merkel, Olaf Scholz and Frank-Walter Steinmeier all contributed to the establishment of closer ties between Berlin and Moscow through projects such as "Nord Stream".
But what distinguished Schröder's stance was his support for Russia amid public outrage over Putin's aggression against Ukraine. It alienated the 82-year-old politician from the political elite in Berlin and from his own party, which tried to oust him.
Gerhard Schröder has been friends with Vladimir Putin since 1998, when he became German chancellor. In 2014, the German Social Democrat even attended the Russian president's birthday party in Moscow.
After his term as chancellor ended, Schröder was criticized for being deeply involved in the activities of Russian state-owned energy companies. He approved the first Nord Stream gas pipeline shortly before leaving the chancellorship in 2005. Shortly after, he headed the shareholders' committee of the company building the pipeline. In 2016, he joined the board of directors of the company behind the Nord Stream 2 gas pipeline, which, however, was never implemented due to the war in Ukraine that began in 2022. And in 2017, he became chairman of the supervisory board of the state-owned Russian company Rosneft.
In 2022, the social democrat was also supposed to join the supervisory board of the Russian state-owned energy company Gazprom, but ultimately withdrew as he was under increasing pressure after the Russian invasion of Ukraine.
Why is Putin hinting at an end to the war in Ukraine?
Over the weekend, Putin also said that the war in Ukraine was nearing an end. According to ZDF's Russia correspondent Armin Körper, the Kremlin leader is very aware of the fact that "the discontent among the Russian population has been growing steadily lately." Drone attacks from Ukraine and frequent mobile internet outages in major cities like Moscow also play a role. "This, to put it mildly, is quite irritating to people," Körper says.
In addition, Russia's economy is not developing well, "people are slowly starting to notice that too." According to the ZDF journalist, Putin now "wants to signal to Russians that he sees that they are not happy and to offer them a perspective."