EU, Ukraine reject Germany's ex-Chancellor Schroeder as peace talks mediator

Prefer on Google by Martin Fornusek, Chris Powers Russian President Vladimir Putin and Gerhard Schroeder attend the President's Lounge during the opening ceremony prior to the 2018 FIFA World Cup Russia Group A match between Russia and Saudi Arabia at Luzhniki Stadium on June 14, 2018, in Moscow, Russia. (Pool/Getty Images) The EU and Kyiv on May 11 dismissed Moscow's suggestion that former German Chancellor Gerhard Schroeder could serve as a European mediator in peace talks to end the war. "First, if we give the right to Russia to appoint a negotiator on our behalf, that would not be very wise," Kaja Kallas, the EU 's top diplomat, told journalists in Brussels ahead of a foreign ministers' meeting. Kallas hinted that Schroeder would not be an impartial negotiator due to having worked as a "high-level lobbyist for Russian state-owned companies." "It is clear why (Russian President Vladimir) Putin wants him to be the person so that actually he would be sitting on both sides of the table," the EU diplomat noted. The news comes after speculation that the EU could open separate talks with Moscow to help end the war in Ukraine. Putin said that if such talks were to take place, his preferred mediator would be Schroeder. After serving as Germany's chancellor from 1998 to 2005, Schroeder went on to hold senior posts at Russian state-controlled energy companies, including Nord Stream AG and oil giant Rosneft. Ukraine 's Foreign Minister Andrii Sybiha also said that Kyiv "definitely (does) not support such a candidacy." There are "many other worthy leaders" who can assume this role instead, Sybiha said ahead of the European meeting in Brussels. The proposal was met with skepticism in Germany, though some members of the Social Democratic Party (SPD) — which Schroeder once led — were open to the idea. European officials and diplomats previously told the Kyiv Independent that no concrete plan for engaging Russia diplomatically currently exists, as the bloc must first form a unified position. According to Kallas, European leaders would discuss the matter and possible demands on Moscow during the upcoming summit in Cyprus on May 27-28. However, some European officials have raised doubts about Moscow's genuine interest in peace talks, citing repeated breaches of the temporary truce between May 9 and 11. Putin is "not interested in real peace talks," Swedish Foreign Minister Maria Malmer Stenergard said, calling the idea of Schroeder as a mediator "not realistic." Europe "shouldn't take seriously what they (Russia) say but what they do," Lithuanian Foreign Minister Kestutis Budrys commented, noting that the breach of the ceasefire "says it all."