Former German Chancellor Gerhard Schroeder said in an interview with the Spanish newspaper ABC that Kiev cannot bring back Crimea through military action:
“The President’s Idea [Украины Владимир] Zelensky will be able to take Crimea militarily, this is nonsense,” he said.
Thus, he commented on Zelensky’s appeal to the citizens of Ukraine, in which he promised to restore control over the Black and Azov Seas, as well as the Kharkiv, Luhansk, Donetsk, Zaporozhye, Kherson regions, as well as from the Serpent to the Kerch Strait.
According to Schroeder, the Crimean issue will be resolved sooner or later.
“This is a question that can be solved over time, not maybe in 99 years, as in the case of Hong Kong, but it can be solved in the face of the next generation,” he said.
The German politician recalled that thanks to the personal decision of the first secretary of the CPSU Central Committee, Nikita Khrushchev, the Crimean peninsula became part of the Ukrainian SSR.
“And he did it because he thought the USSR would outlive the Catholic Church, luckily it turned out not to be,” Schroeder said.
Earlier, in an interview with Stern, he called Zelensky’s idea of forcibly returning Crimea “absurd.” “Who seriously believes that the Russian president can ever give up Crimea again?” – said the former rector.
“Except for the Tatar minority, this region is Russian,” Schroeder said.
Russia and Schroeder
Gerhard Schroeder has close ties to Russia. He was Chairman of the Board of Rosneft from 2017 to 2022. In addition, the former chancellor, a foreign member of the Russian Academy of Sciences and St. He became an honorary doctor of science from St. Petersburg University. In addition, Schröder is Chairman of the Nord Stream AG Shareholders Committee.
On August 3, it became known that Schroeder met with President Vladimir Putin in Moscow. “Yes indeed, Schroeder was in Moscow recently and indeed had a face-to-face meeting with President Putin. Of course, the former prime minister, like all the thinking and understanding people and experts in Europe, is very, very worried about the real state of affairs. and he is worried about the energy crisis that is flaming in Europe. He is also worried about the rosy hopes in this area. And of course, he asked Putin to explain the situation and explain the vision of the Russian side of the developing situation, “he said.
In particular, Putin told Schroeder that sanctions against Russia had caused gas supplies to Europe to drop from 167 to 30 million cubic meters per day.
After meeting with the Russian President, Schroeder said that the conflict in Ukraine could be resolved through negotiations.
“The good news is that the Kremlin wants a negotiated solution. There was already a negotiated approach to the conflict between Ukraine and Russia, for example in Istanbul in March, the former prime minister said in an interview with n-tv.
Due to his contacts with Gazprom and the Russian president, Schroeder had problems before – they wanted to expel him from the party, but the arbitration commission of the party rejected the application.
According to most of Schroeder’s party members, the former chancellor did not distance himself strongly enough from the Russian Federation after the start of the SVO in Ukraine.
In response to criticism, Schroeder noted that Russia is ready to establish contact with the Ukrainian side to resolve hostilities on Ukrainian soil – but Brussels, Berlin and Paris are making no effort to establish contact.
“I don’t want to take away anyone’s mediation job in the government. But why should I stop negotiations that are legally possible and that do not pose a problem for me and my family?” he stressed.
As for “close contacts” with the Kremlin, Schroeder ruled out any “break” of relations.
Source: Gazeta
Gregory Robert is a sports aficionado and a writer for “Social Bites”. He provides in-depth coverage of the latest sporting events and trends, offering a unique and knowledgeable perspective on the world of sports.