Saturday, March 12, 2022

Let's see what close personal relationships mean to Putin

Germany's Gerhard Schröder meets with Vladimir Putin over Ukraine — reports

Former German Chancellor Gerhard Schröder has long been a personal friend of Russian President Vladimir Putin. Now, he may be attempting to mediate to end the war in Ukraine.

Gerhard Schröder, who was German chancellor from 1998 to 2005, has had a close relationship with Russian President Vladimir Putin for more than two decades. Now the news portal Politico and the German mass-circulation Bild newspaper report he traveled to Moscow and met with the Russian president on Thursday evening.

The trip was not coordinated with the German government, which is headed by Schröder's party, the center-left Social Democrats (SPD). SPD co-leader Lars Klingbeil said he had received no information on such a trip, but said that in his view any attempt to stop the war was good.

It was only a few days ago that Soyeon Schröder-Kim, Schröder's wife, wrote on Instagram, "You can be sure that whatever my husband can do to help end the war, he will do."

On Thursday evening, Schröder-Kim posted a photo showing her praying by a window overlooking St. Basil's Cathedral in Moscow.

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