“I will not give up my opportunities to speak with President Putin,” TASS quoted him as saying.
In addition, the ex-chancellor advocated a diplomatic settlement of the Ukrainian crisis.
“The fate of the military and the Ukrainian civilian population can only be alleviated through a diplomatic solution,” Schroeder stressed.
Earlier, the leader of the parliamentary faction of the French National Rally party, Marine Le Pen, expressed confidence that the conflict in Ukraine can only be resolved through diplomatic methods.
On July 9, the German newspaper Die Welt reported that the United States, along with major European allies, had likely begun secret consultations on a diplomatic solution to the Ukrainian crisis.