EU rejects Putin call for Gerhard Schröder role in Ukraine peace talks

The EU on Monday dismissed Vladimir Putin’s suggestion that the Kremlin-friendly former German chancellor Gerhard Schröder could serve as a European mediator in peace talks aimed at ending the war in Ukraine.

Over the weekend, the Russian leader put forward Schröder – a longtime ally – as a possible figure to help restart talks with Europe, saying he would “personally” favour the former German leader for the role.

Schröder, 82, previously held senior positions in Russian energy projects, including work on the Nord Stream gas pipelines and a seat on the board of Russian oil company Rosneft. He stepped down from the role several months after Moscow’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine under mounting pressure, but has never explicitly condemned Putin over the invasion.

Responding to the proposal, Kaja Kallas, the EU’s top diplomat, told journalists in Brussels before a meeting of foreign ministers: “First, if we give Russia the right to appoint a negotiator on our behalf, that would not be very wise.”

Kallas added that Schröder could not be considered an impartial mediator given his past work as a “high-level lobbyist for Russian state-owned companies”.

“It is clear why Putin wants him to be the person, so that actually he would be sitting on both sides of the table,” she said.

Putin’s surprise pitch comes as the Russian president suggested the conflict in Ukraine could be drawing to a close – a rare instance in which Putin appeared to hint at a possible timeline for ending the invasion.

But Putin’s top advisers have stressed that the Kremlin continues to demand that Ukraine withdraw its troops from the eastern Donbas region as a precondition for future negotiations.

The Russian president remains determined to seize the remaining parts of the region by force this year before any serious talks begin, people familiar with his thinking told the Guardian.

Ukraine has flatly rejected any suggestion it would unilaterally withdraw from its own territory, a position bolstered by recent battlefield dynamics in which Russian advances have largely ground to a halt.

The two armies are showing mounting signs of exhaustion and continuing to sustain heavy casualties, while trading strikes on each other’s energy infrastructure.

Against that backdrop, analysts say a diplomatic breakthrough is unlikely.

A US-brokered ceasefire is due to expire on Tuesday and Moscow has rejected prolonging the truce.

But EU leaders have in recent months stepped up efforts to secure the bloc a seat at the table in any future substantive peace negotiations.