“A country like Russia cannot be isolated in the long term, either politically or economically.

The German industry needs raw materials that Russia has, ”Schroeder is quoted by RIA Novosti.

According to him, we are talking not only about oil and gas, but also about rare earth elements.

The ex-chancellor stressed that after the end of the special operation in Ukraine, "we will have to interact with Russia again."

Earlier, German Chancellor Olaf Scholz also expressed the opinion that an embargo on gas from Russia would have serious consequences for Germany and Europe.

As Gazprom previously stated, European countries are facing a serious challenge to replenish gas reserves in underground storage facilities by next winter, which will have a strong impact on the cost of gas on the market.