The "easiest solution" in the current energy crisis in Germany would be to put the Nord Stream 2 gas pipeline into operation, former German chancellor Gerhard Schröder said in an interview with Stern after returning from Russia. According to him, if Nord Stream 2 is not launched, Europe will face huge consequences.
This statement by Schroeder is one of Vladimir Putin's conditions on which he will agree to end the war. Politicians talked about this in Moscow during Schroeder's unofficial visit, said Sergey Fursa, deputy director of Dragon Capital.
“This is one of Putin's wishes, it just concerns not only Ukraine, but also the conditions under which he is ready to return to gas trading. He has already done this twice – he set conditions, Europe compromised, he saw weakness, raised rates and lowered gas supplies. For the first time it was when he demanded contracts in rubles, and the second time when he demanded a turbine. Both ended the same way, and now he's upping the ante again. The expert says. – For Putin, it is now important to end the war as quickly as possible – on the one hand, the offensive potential is depleted, on the other hand, the sanctions are working harder and harder. At the same time, he exposes the West to the conditions on which he is ready to sign peace.
Now Putin wants to maintain influence over the whole of Ukraine by returning to the format of the Minsk agreements, since they provided for conditional federalization.
“Schroeder voices it like a Swiss Scanton script. That is, Putin is ready for the “LPR”, “DPR”, Kherson and Zaporozhye regions to return to Ukraine, but for them to receive some kind of autonomy and influence the entire policy of the country. Putin wants to increase the territory of the occupied land, create some kind of Kherson People's Republic and integrate it into Ukraine in order to be able to control the politics of Kyiv and Ukraine,” Fursa adds.
At the same time, the expert emphasizes that the conditions put forward by Putin are unacceptable for Ukraine. “Most likely, Ukraine, Britain and the United States will do everything to prevent this from happening, but it is difficult to say how much one will be tempted by such a format of a truce in Europe.”
Former German chancellor Gerhard Schroeder arrived in Moscow at the end of July and settled near the office of Rosneft. He told reporters that he was on vacation. In response to the remark that the Rosneft office is very close, Schroeder replied in surprise: “Really? Yes you are right". However, Schroeder's wife denied his words, saying that he was not on vacation at all, but was "conducting negotiations on energy."
“He is not on vacation, but is negotiating energy policy in Moscow,” said Soen Schroeder-Kim.
Later, Schroeder nevertheless admitted that he met with Putin. In an interview with Stern weekly and RTL/n-tv published on August 3, he said that Putin would like to find a negotiated solution to the conflict with Ukraine and the West.