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Former German Chancellor Gerhard Schroeder said he wants to keep in touch with Russian President Vladimir Putin despite pressure to end his friendship with him over Russia’s war in Ukraine.
“I will not give up my opportunities for talks with President Putin,” Schroeder told the German newspaper, Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung.
Schroeder, a Social Democrat, was Germany’s chancellor from 1998 to 2005 and, after leaving office, became chairman of the board of Russian state oil company Rosneft.
He resigned from his position at Rosneft in May and turned down a nomination to the board of another Russian giant, Gazprom, which was made before Russia launched its invasion of Ukraine on February 24.
Schroeder has faced harsh criticism in Germany for years because of his work for Russian companies.
He added that after the meeting with Putin in March, he has the impression that the Russian president is interested in a negotiated solution.
“What such a solution looks like can only be clarified through negotiations,” said Schroeder.
Schroeder made it clear that he believes Ukraine is to blame for the failure of negotiations so far.
Other members of the Social Democratic Party of Germany (SPD) have distanced themselves from Schroeder./ Radio Free Europe
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