XL Semana, a magazine which has become the largest circulation magazine in Spain by virtue of the fact that it is distributed monthly as an insert in many of the country’s major newspapers, featured an exclusive interview with former German Chancellor Gerhard Schröder (1998-2005) on the cover of its most recent edition.
Schröder has been vilified and largely treated as an outcast, even in his own German Social Democracy, for his former ties to Russia’s Gazprom and Rosneft, and still-leading role in the German-Russian pipeline company, Nord Stream. XL Semana complies with the witch hunt “narrative” against him, describing him on the cover as “Putin’s Advocate in Europe,” and asserting he reiterates his “loyalty” to Putin. The actual interview, however, appears as a Q&A transcript, which allows its readers to judge his arguments as they read them. And that includes his message, summarized in blowup bold as the article’s title: “The Good News Is That the Kremlin Wants a Negotiated Solution.”
He discussed the status of Nord Stream 1 & 2, the resulting gas crisis, and the political costs that will be paid, firmly defending his continued contacts with Moscow, and with President Vladimir Putin, as necessary to end the war, which he opposes, but for which NATO also bears responsibility. He spoke of a resolution involving “armed neutrality” and a Swiss cantonal system of government for Ukraine.
