Gerhard Schröder is in Moscow to hold talks with Russian President Vladimir Putin about the Ukraine war.

Corresponding reports from the news portal "Politico" and the "Bild" newspaper were confirmed by the German Press Agency.

According to dpa information, a first meeting between Schröder and Putin took place on Thursday.

It was initially unclear whether more were planned.

The federal government had previously announced that the trip had not been agreed with her.

Chancellor Olaf Scholz (SPD) only said on the sidelines of the EU summit in Versailles about the reports on the trip: "I don't want to comment on that."

Instagram photo of Schröder-Kim looking towards Red Square

Schröder's wife Soyeon Schröder-Kim posted a photo of herself with her hands clasped and her eyes closed on her Instagram page on Thursday evening, with St. Basil's Cathedral in Moscow's Red Square in the background.

According to dpa information, Schröder and Schröder-Kim traveled to Moscow via Istanbul.

The initiative for mediation is said to have come from the Ukrainian side.

Schröder has long been friends with Putin, who launched a war of aggression against Ukraine on February 24.

The former chancellor also works as a lobbyist for the natural gas pipeline companies Nord Stream 1 and 2 and is chairman of the supervisory board of the Russian oil company Rosneft.

Even after the beginning of the Ukraine war, he held on to the post despite massive pressure from his own party.

The SPD leadership has already sent an ultimatum to Schröder to resign his mandates at Russian state-owned companies.

A "prompt" answer is expected, party leader Lars Klingbeil said a week ago.

So far, such a response from Schröder is not known.

A local SPD association has already applied for Schröder's party expulsion.

Klingbeil on the Moscow trip: "First something sensible"

On Thursday evening, Klingbeil was cautiously positive about Schröder's trip to Moscow in the ZDF program "Maybrit Illner".

"Anything that helps to end this terrible war is welcome," he said.

We'll see if it's of any use.

In any case, every conversation situation is "something reasonable first".

Klingbeil said he didn't know anything about Schröder's visit to Russia.

"He is neither on behalf of the SPD nor on behalf of the federal government." Government representatives with whom he spoke did not know anything about a meeting.

The chairman of the Foreign Affairs Committee in the Bundestag, Michael Roth (SPD), said on ZDF: “Every chance should be taken to silence the guns.

And it's not about Gerhard Schröder or anyone else.

I'm concerned about the people in Ukraine, because they deserve it.

That's why I keep my fingers crossed."

Detour via Istanbul

According to the Politico report, the trip was arranged by a Kiev politician.

On Monday, the Schröder-Kim couple first traveled to Istanbul, where the former Chancellor met a Ukrainian delegation.

His subsequent request for a meeting with Putin is said to have been answered positively within ten minutes.

Schröder and Schröder-Kim were then taken to Moscow on a Russian plane on Wednesday.

Schröder-Kim had already written on Instagram on Saturday: "You can be sure that whatever my husband can do to help end the war, he will do it, regardless of the ultimatums of the SPD or other organizations such as the DFB."

Ukrainian ambassador: "I don't know anything about it"

From the Ukrainian side there was initially no comment on Schröder's trip to Moscow.

The Ukrainian ambassador to Germany, Andriy Melnyk, told the German Press Agency on Thursday afternoon: "I don't know anything about it."

However, Melnyk had endorsed Schröder's attempt at mediation in an interview a week ago.

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

There is no one who has something like that in Germany and the other European countries," said the ambassador of the "image".

First a statement by Schröder on the war

Schröder has only spoken publicly about the Russian invasion of Ukraine since the beginning of the war.

On February 24, he called on Russia on the LinkedIn online network to end the war and the associated suffering for the people of Ukraine as soon as possible.

At the same time, he emphasized that the political, economic and civil society ties between Europe and Russia should not be completely severed if sanctions are necessary.