{"id":6581,"date":"2026-05-11T11:35:34","date_gmt":"2026-05-11T11:35:34","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/pronews.in\/index.php\/2026\/05\/11\/who-is-gerhard-schroeder-putins-pick-for-ukraine-peace-talks-mediation\/"},"modified":"2026-05-11T11:35:34","modified_gmt":"2026-05-11T11:35:34","slug":"who-is-gerhard-schroeder-putins-pick-for-ukraine-peace-talks-mediation","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/pronews.in\/index.php\/2026\/05\/11\/who-is-gerhard-schroeder-putins-pick-for-ukraine-peace-talks-mediation\/","title":{"rendered":"Who is Gerhard Schroeder, Putin\u2019s pick for Ukraine peace talks mediation?"},"content":{"rendered":"<div aria-live=\"polite\" aria-atomic=\"true\">\n<p>Russian \u2060President Vladimir \u2060Putin has suggested that former German Chancellor Gerhard Schroeder could coordinate talks with the European Union to secure a \u2060peace deal in Ukraine \u2013 a proposal met with scepticism by EU officials.<\/p>\n<p>European Council President Antonio Costa said recently he believed there was \u201cpotential\u201d for \u2060the EU to negotiate with Russia and to discuss the future of Europe\u2019s security architecture.<\/p>\n<section>\n<h2>Recommended Stories <\/h2>\n<p><span>list of 3 items<\/span><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li><span>list 1 of 3<\/span><a href=\"http:\/\/www.aljazeera.com\/news\/2026\/5\/10\/putin-suggests-russias-war-on-ukraine-coming-to-an-end\">Putin suggests Russia\u2019s war on Ukraine \u2018coming to an end\u2019<\/a><\/li>\n<li><span>list 2 of 3<\/span><a href=\"http:\/\/www.aljazeera.com\/video\/newsfeed\/2026\/5\/10\/ukraine-has-momentum-in-war-with\">\u2018Ukraine has momentum in war with Russia\u2019<\/a><\/li>\n<li><span>list 3 of 3<\/span><a href=\"http:\/\/www.aljazeera.com\/news\/2026\/5\/10\/putin-hints-at-ending-russias-war-in-ukraine-but-why-now\">Putin hints at ending Russia\u2019s war in Ukraine, but why now?<\/a><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><span>end of list<\/span><\/section>\n<p>Asked on Saturday whom he would like to see restarting talks with Europe, Putin said he would \u201cpersonally\u201d prefer Schroeder, who led Germany from 1998 to 2005 and has remained close to the Kremlin leader since leaving office.<\/p>\n<p>A day later, the Russian leader said the \u2060four-year-old war <a href=\"http:\/\/www.aljazeera.com\/news\/2026\/5\/10\/putin-hints-at-ending-russias-war-in-ukraine-but-why-now\">may be \u201ccoming to an end\u201d<\/a>, adding that he was ready to hold direct talks with his Ukrainian counterpart, Volodymyr Zelenskyy, in Moscow or a neutral country.<\/p>\n<p>Speaking after Saturday\u2019s <a href=\"http:\/\/www.aljazeera.com\/news\/2026\/5\/8\/amid-ukraines-daring-assaults-russia-scales-back-victory-day-celebrations\">celebrations for Victory Day<\/a>, which marks Russia\u2019s victory over Nazi Germany in 1945 at the end of World War II, Putin added he would be willing to meet Zelenskyy only once the terms of a peace agreement had already been settled.<\/p>\n<p>Russia had announced a unilateral two-day ceasefire on May 8-9 to mark Victory Day, while Zelenskyy countered it with his own proposed pause in fighting starting earlier, on the night of May 5-6.<\/p>\n<p>As part of a broader Washington-led push for \u2060peace, United States President Donald Trump on Friday announced a <a href=\"http:\/\/www.aljazeera.com\/news\/2026\/5\/8\/trump-announces-three-day-ceasefire-in-russia-ukraine-war\">three-day pause in the conflict<\/a>, but both sides have since accused the other of breaking it.<\/p>\n<p>As US-backed peace talks between Kyiv and Moscow stall, here is a look at who Schroeder is and whether he could be a trustworthy mediator.<\/p>\n<h2 id=\"who-is-gerhard-schroeder\">Who is Gerhard Schroeder?<\/h2>\n<p>The 82-year-old leader of the Social Democratic Party (SPD) served as Germany\u2019s chancellor from 1998 to 2005, focusing his political goals on European integration, reducing unemployment, liberalising German citizenship laws, curbing nuclear power and rebuilding the economy.<\/p>\n<p>Disagreements over the Iraq war caused a serious rift in German-US relations in 2003, when Germany sided with France and Russia in opposing military intervention in the country over claims that the then-Iraqi president, Saddam Hussein, was producing weapons of mass destruction.<\/p>\n<p>After leaving office in 2005, Schroeder \u2060almost immediately took a job as chairman of a controversial German-Russian \u2060consortium building a gas pipeline under the Baltic Sea. He held key roles in Russian energy projects, including work on the Nord Stream gas pipelines and a seat on the board of Russian oil firm Rosneft, which he gave up in 2022.<\/p>\n<p>While he quit that role, the former chancellor has remained close to Putin, standing apart from most Western leaders since <a href=\"http:\/\/www.aljazeera.com\/news\/2022\/12\/28\/2022-review-visualising-how-the-russia-ukraine-war-unfolded\">Russia invaded Ukraine in 2022<\/a> and facing heavy \u2060criticism in Germany.<\/p>\n<p>His failure to publicly condemn Russia\u2019s invasion of Ukraine has cost him several privileges normally granted to former chancellors, including receiving a state-funded office, making him a controversial figure at home.<\/p>\n<h2 id=\"what-is-his-relationship-with-putin\">What is his relationship with Putin?<\/h2>\n<p>Schroeder referred to Putin as \u201ca flawless democrat\u201d in 2004, declaring himself \u201cthoroughly convinced that the Russian president wants to transform Russia into a democracy and that he is doing so out of a deeply held conviction\u201d.<\/p>\n<p>The then-German chancellor had little to say about Russian attempts to influence the elections in Ukraine during those years or about the Kremlin\u2019s attacks on press freedom. On the contrary, under his leadership, Germany deepened its economic ties with Russia, grew trade and increased its dependency on Russian oil and natural gas.<\/p>\n<p>In his book Klare Woerter (Straight Talk), Schroeder spoke about his relationship with the Russian leader, who worked as a KGB spy in the then-East Germany in the 1980s and is fluent in German.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThe most important thing for a friendship is a common language,\u201d Schroeder, who has two adopted children from Russia \u2013 Viktoria and Gregor \u2013 said. \u201cIt makes everything easier.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Their friendship reportedly continued to blossom over the years. Schroeder criticised moves to impose sanctions and eject Russia from the Group of Eight and even backed a Kremlin argument comparing the annexation of Ukraine\u2019s Crimea region with NATO\u2019s intervention in Serbia\u2019s Kosovo province in 1999, which he himself helped lead as the German chancellor.<\/p>\n<h2 id=\"russia-ukraine-negotiations-going\">How are the Russia-Ukraine negotiations going?<\/h2>\n<p>The US-backed talks have faltered over the latest Russian offensive to seize the remaining parts of Ukraine\u2019s eastern Donetsk \u2060region, which Moscow has demanded Kyiv cede before it considers ending its war. Meanwhile, the two sides continue to carry out strikes against each other, with Ukraine making significant inroads in <a href=\"http:\/\/www.aljazeera.com\/features\/2026\/4\/24\/russian-oil-exports-slump-as-ukraine-hammers-ports-and-refineries\">destroying Russian energy infrastructure<\/a> in recent weeks.<\/p>\n<p>On Sunday, Ukrainian officials said Russian attacks had killed at least three people, and that close to 150 combat engagements had occurred on the front lines in the previous 24 hours, despite the three-day pause in fighting.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cIn other words, the Russian army is not observing any silence on the front and is not even particularly trying to,\u201d Zelenskyy said in his evening address, adding that Ukrainian troops were responding and defending their positions.<\/p>\n<p>On Sunday, Russia\u2019s Ministry of Defence accused Ukraine of violating the pause, saying it had \u200cdowned 57 Ukrainian drones over the past day and \u201cresponded in kind\u201d on the battlefield.<\/p>\n<p>Control of the Russian-occupied Zaporizhzhia Nuclear Power Plant, Europe\u2019s largest, has also been a point of contention.<\/p>\n<p>While Putin suggested the war was \u201ccoming to an end\u201d on Saturday, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said peace in Ukraine was a \u201cvery long way\u201d away.<\/p>\n<p>On Sunday, Russia\u2019s Interfax news agency quoted Kremlin adviser Yury Ushakov saying that US envoys Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner would visit Moscow \u201csoon enough\u201d to continue talks with Russia.<\/p>\n<p><img decoding=\"async\" data-recalc-dims=\"1\" loading=\"lazy\" src=\"http:\/\/www.aljazeera.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/02\/INTERACTIVE-WHO-CONTROLS-WHAT-IN-UKRAINE-1778056072.png?quality=80\" alt=\"INTERACTIVE-WHO CONTROLS WHAT IN UKRAINE-1778056072\" data-interactive=\"true\" fetchpriority=\"low\"><\/p>\n<h2 id=\"are-ukraine-and-the-west-likely-to-trust-schroeder\">Are Ukraine and the West likely to trust Schroeder?<\/h2>\n<p>EU foreign policy chief Kaja Kallas reacted with scepticism to Putin\u2019s proposal. \u201cIf we give the right to Russia to appoint a negotiator on our behalf, you know, that would not be very wise,\u201d she told reporters on Monday in advance of foreign ministers\u2019 talks in Brussels.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cGerhard Schroeder has been a high-level lobbyist for Russian state-owned companies. So it\u2019s clear why Putin wants him to be the person so that actually, you know, he would be sitting on both sides of the table,\u201d she added.<\/p>\n<p>Germany dismissed Putin\u2019s suggestion on Sunday. The Reuters news agency quoted a German official as saying the offer was not credible because Russia had not changed any of its conditions, stressing that any talks with the EU would need to be closely \u200ccoordinated \u200cwith member states and Ukraine.<\/p>\n<p>The official, who \u2060spoke on condition \u2060of anonymity, said Putin had made a series of bogus offers aimed at dividing the Western alliance.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Russian \u2060President Vladimir \u2060Putin has suggested that former German Chancellor Gerhard Schroeder could coordinate talks with the European Union to secure a \u2060peace deal in Ukraine \u2013 a proposal met with scepticism by EU officials. European Council President Antonio Costa said recently he believed there was \u201cpotential\u201d for \u2060the EU to negotiate with Russia and &#8230; <a title=\"Who is Gerhard Schroeder, Putin\u2019s pick for Ukraine peace talks mediation?\" class=\"read-more\" href=\"https:\/\/pronews.in\/index.php\/2026\/05\/11\/who-is-gerhard-schroeder-putins-pick-for-ukraine-peace-talks-mediation\/\" aria-label=\"Read more about Who is Gerhard Schroeder, Putin\u2019s pick for Ukraine peace talks mediation?\">Read more<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":6582,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[8],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-6581","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-travel"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/pronews.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6581","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/pronews.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/pronews.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/pronews.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/pronews.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=6581"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/pronews.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6581\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/pronews.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/6582"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/pronews.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=6581"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/pronews.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=6581"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/pronews.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=6581"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}