Putin describes former German chancellor Schroeder in two words
Russian President Vladimir Putin, during his meeting with German Chancellor Olaf Scholz, praised former German Chancellor Gerhard Schroeder as a "respectful person" and expressed support for his planned appointment as a member of the Supervisory and Monitoring Board of the Russian state energy company Gazprom.
During a press conference with Schulz in the Kremlin, Putin said on Tuesday that the work of such an "independent expert" would benefit cooperation with Germany.
For his part, Schulz made it clear that Schroeder is not speaking on behalf of the German government.
Schroeder, who has been a friend of Putin for many years, is already a member of the Supervisory and Monitoring Board of the Russian state energy company Rosneft, and also holds leadership positions in the Nord Stream 1 and Nord Stream 2 pipeline projects.
Schroeder had recently made statements about the Ukraine conflict that sparked attention and anger within his Social Democratic Party, to which current Chancellor Schulz belongs, as he criticized Ukraine's demands for Germany to supply weapons, describing it as a "rattle of swords."
Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba responded by likening Schroeder to President Putin's spokesman.
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