The Russian President’s proposal that former German Chancellor Gerhard Schröder mediate in the Ukraine conflict has deeply upset the war party among politicians in Germany, but it has also gotten prominent support: “Every proposal must be seriously examined to determine how reliable it is,” said Adis Ahmetovic, foreign policy spokesperson for the SPD parliamentary group in the Bundestag, in an interview with Der Spiegel. “We cannot accept that the United States and Russia alone decide the future of Ukraine and European security,” he added. “Our goal must be to have a seat at the negotiating table.” If a condition for this is the involvement of former German Chancellor Schröder, this should be weighed “in close consultation with our European partners” and should not be “immediately and categorically ruled out” in advance.
SPD foreign policy expert Ralf Stegner also spoke in favor of examining Putin’s proposal. “I welcome any initiative that could end the war,” Stegner told Der Spiegel. So far, Europe has not been involved in the negotiations and cannot make any proposals. “If this could be achieved through someone like Schröder, it would be negligent to turn it down.”