Gerd goes to Moscow (Part II)

Can the former Chancellor broker a peace?

Gerd Schröder. Photo: Wikipedia Commons

What happened?

Former Chancellor Gerhard Schröder has made another trip to Moscow to talk to his long-time friend Vladimir Putin about the later’s invasion of Ukraine. Schröder initially claimed that the trip, which took place in late July, was purely recreational, saying that “Moscow is a beautiful city.” The 78 year old later admitted though that he’d met with Putin on the trip.

Talking to RTL television channel this week, Schröder assured people that “the good news is that the Kremlin wants a negotiated solution.” He added that the recent deal brokered by Turkey to export Ukrainian wheat through the Black Sea was “a first success” which “could slowly be extended into a cease fire.”

Why is the trip controversial?

Schröder was still earning a living on the boards of Russian energy firms as recently as May and only gave up those posts after becoming public enemy No 1. over his close ties to the Kremlin. His repeated insistence that NATO and Kyiv both share the blame for the Russian invasion has led to the Social Democrats (SPD) trying to kick him out of the party he led over many years.

Schröder first visited Moscow back in March in a failed attempt to bring Putin to the negotiating table. That visit came under intense scrutiny due to the war crimes being committed by the Russian army at the time.