First Kiev, then Moscow
“It’s just a question of style”: Former Chancellor Gerhard Schröder accuses Baerbock of provoking Russia
Gerhard Schröder was Chancellor from 1998 to 2005
© Kay Nietfeld / DPA
When Annalena Baerbock first went to Kiev and only then to Moscow to take office, she provoked Russia – at least that’s how former Chancellor Gerhard Schröder sees it. After all: Otherwise he noticed “no big mistakes”.
Former Chancellor Schröder called the fact that Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock (Greens) first visited Ukraine before her first visit to Russia as a “minor provocation”. He was surprised “that one visited Russia and was in Kiev beforehand. Well, the Russians probably accepted that,” said Schröder in his podcast “Die Agenda”. “I hope that this model will not be repeated during the visit to China – wherever the trip comes from,” continued the 77-year-old.
Baerbock first traveled to Kiev for her inaugural visit in early January and then from there to Moscow, where she met Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov. Schröder praised Baerbock’s clear no to arms deliveries to Ukraine during the trip. That was “respectable”. All in all, he couldn’t see “any major mistake” by the Greens politician on the trip, “except for the fact that the small provocation of flying to Russia via Kiev might have been avoided,” said the former SPD chairman. “But well, that’s just a question of style.”
Schröder does not want to mediate in the Ukraine conflict
Schröder was also asked in the podcast interview with his former government spokesman Béla Anda whether he was willing to mediate in the Ukraine conflict given his friendship with Russian President Vladimir Putin. For that there is the US President, the French President and the Federal Chancellor, Schröder replied. “Someone who definitely has personal connections can’t really help. Those responsible have to do it themselves, otherwise it can’t work.”
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Schröder has been friends with Russian President Vladimir Putin since he was Chancellor (1998 to 2005). He also holds management positions in the Nord Stream and Nord Stream 2 pipeline projects. He is Chairman of the Shareholders’ Committee of Nord Stream AG and Chairman of the Board of Directors of Nord Stream 2 AG. Both gas pipelines under the Baltic Sea connect Russia and Germany.