I must say I’m a bit disappointed. Vladimir Putin, usually a virtuoso of deception, deflection and disguise, appears to be losing his touch.
Last weekend, after a somewhat scaled-down Victory Day parade, he proposed his old chum Gerhard Schröder as a peace negotiator between Russia and Ukraine.
In a world where the US president dispatches family members and campaign donors to conduct diplomacy in line with his own interests, one can see where Vlad gets the idea.
So why not have Germany’s former chancellor represent Russian interests? Schröder already has years of experience in that field, courtesy of his lucrative career as Gazprom’s favourite brand ambassador.
But why Putin should believe anyone in Europe might mistake Schröder for an impartial mediator is another question. Ah, wait – the usual suspects among the German Social Democrats think it’s worth a try. Because, shouldn’t we explore every avenue towards peace? Even the ones that lead through the Kremlin gift shop.
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The same logic animates members of the far-left splinter party, the Sahra Wagenknecht Alliance (BSW), who recently joined in with the “victory against fascism” celebrations at Berlin’s Russian embassy. Accused of poor taste – or, depending on your standards, outright obscenity – one BSW representative replied that the only thing immoral was to keep supplying weapons to Ukraine, thereby “supporting death and suffering”.
But make no mistake: the BSW merely says aloud what many Germans think. Pacifism often means demanding that other nations surrender for the greater good of our own heating bills.
Putin knows this part of the German soul extremely well. He toys with us, knowing there will always be people willing to applaud the simulation of peace talks, when in fact it is always about his terms. If he merely wanted peace, there is a remarkably straightforward option available to him: he could stop the war he started.
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What he wants, however, is to dictate Europe’s security architecture. Which is why, while praising Schröder for never having been “nasty” to Russia, Putin warned Armenia against getting too enthusiastic about EU membership. “Remember,” he casually said, “that’s how it all started with Ukraine.” Forget Nato and Nazis – it was about Brussels!
Schröder’s office declined to comment on whether he might take up a mediating role. Possibly because the last attempt in March 2022, involving Mrs Schröder-Kim photographed at a hotel window facing Red Square, her hands folded as if to pray, remains lodged in public memory as not so very successful.
Or perhaps because the 82-year-old ex-chancellor, who recently cited his “poor health” to avoid appearing before a parliamentary inquiry commission into the Nord Stream affair, is waiting for Berlin to ask nicely first. Which it won’t.
Instead, another name is circulating. Frank-Walter Steinmeier, Germany’s outgoing Bundespräsident, who executed a U-turn on his formerly Russia-friendly rhetoric after 2022. Yet even that idea was swiftly slapped down by veteran diplomat Wolfgang Ischinger, head of the Munich Security Conference, who bluntly noted: “Forget it!”
According to him, considering “political circumstances and recent history including the Nord Stream debacle, chances that the European Council would wish to offer a negotiating role to a German are extremely slim.”
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His suggestions instead: Alexander Stubb of Finland or Radosław Sikorski of Poland – a country that spent years warning Germany that becoming emotionally dependent on Russian gas might perhaps not end brilliantly.
One thing, however, is beyond doubt: Europe has to get round the table and look after its own interests – as Donald Trump’s “negotiators” will not.
As if proof for this were needed, another German entered the stage this week: Christian Schmidt, CSU agriculture minister turned high representative for Bosnia in 2021. He just announced he would step down from his post. Schmidt has lately experienced Trump-style deal-making up close. Washington is pushing him aside.
Why? Because Bosnian Serb strongman Milorad Dodik – Putin- and MAGA-friendly – is no fan of Schmidt, and has business opportunities to offer. A pipeline project for American LNG gas. Donald Trump Jr. was recently spotted in Banja Luka attending an investors’ conference hosted by Dodik’s son.
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