The federal government has not been informed about an alleged visit by former Chancellor Gerhard Schröder (SPD) to Moscow to mediate in the Ukraine war.

Such talks have not been coordinated with Chancellor Olaf Scholz (SPD) and his government, government circles said on Thursday.

The news portal "Politico" had previously reported that Schröder was in Moscow and wanted to meet Russian President Vladimir Putin there as part of mediation efforts to end the Ukraine war.

There was no official confirmation for the trip.

"Politico" referred to "sources familiar with the matter".

Schröder's visit to Moscow follows talks in Istanbul with Ukrainian politicians who are members of the delegation for peace talks with Russia.

"Ukraine wanted to see if Schröder could build a bridge for dialogue with Putin," the portal quoted a source as saying.

The Ukrainian ambassador to Germany, Andriy Melnyk, said last week that he could imagine Schröder trying to mediate.

"He is one of the few here in Germany who may still have a direct line to Mr. Putin," said the diplomat of the "Bild" newspaper.

"There is nobody who has something like that in Germany and the other European countries.

He might try that.” Since Russia's attack on Ukraine on February 24, Russian and Ukrainian negotiators have already talked to each other three times in Belarus and tried to reach an agreement without success.

According to "Politico", Schröder was informed by the CEO Marc Walder of the Swiss media company Ringier of Ukraine's request to act as a mediator.

Schröder had worked for the company as a consultant.

Schröder and his wife then flew to Istanbul on Monday, where he is said to have met the Ukrainian delegation for peace talks with Russia.

The delegation will be headed by Ukrainian politician Rustem Umerov.

Umerov has not yet commented on this.

According to "Politico", Volodymyr Zelenskyj wants to use Schröder's relationship with Putin to at least negotiate a ceasefire.

In addition, the Ukrainians are said to have mentioned several points to Schröder that they are willing to negotiate.

These include, among others, the NATO goals of Ukraine,

the status of Crimea and the future of the Donbass region, which Russia recognized as a "People's Republic" shortly before the invasion.

On Wednesday, a Russian plane was supposed to pick up Schröder from Istanbul for talks.

SPD also not informed about the alleged trip

Schröder has apparently had a friendly relationship with Putin since his chancellorship between 1998 and 2005.

The social democrat has been under pressure for weeks because he is holding on to his posts at state and semi-state Russian energy companies despite Moscow's actions against Ukraine.

After the start of the war of aggression against Ukraine, the SPD leadership asked him to resign these mandates, which Schröder has so far ignored.

The SPD was not informed in advance about the alleged trip, according to party circles.

Schröder's wife, Soyeon Schröder-Kim, defended her husband in a letter to SPD members published on Instagram last week.

She also referred to the Ukrainian ambassador's "request" for her husband to mediate.

"You can be assured that whatever my husband can do to help end the war, he will do it," she wrote.

This was "regardless of ultimatums from the SPD or other organizations" to her husband.