In a lengthy interview with German newspaper Berliner Zeitung, former German Social Democrat Chancellor Gerhard Schröder claimed the United States disrupted peace negotiations between Russia and Ukraine.

The “peace talks” reportedly occurred shortly after Russia invaded Ukraine in 2022.

“Ukraine was ready to sign a peace agreement with Russia but the US Govt did not allow it. Confirmed by Gerhard Schroeder, former leader of Germany,” Kim Dotcom writes.

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From Berliner Zeitung (translated):

In 2022 I received a request from Ukraine as to whether I could mediate between Russia and Ukraine. The question was whether I could convey a message to Putin. Someone would also come along who had a very close relationship with the Ukrainian president himself. That was Rustem Umyerov, Ukraine’s current defense minister. He is a member of the Crimean Tatar minority. Then the question was: How to end the war?

How?

There are five points. First: Ukraine’s renunciation of NATO membership. Ukraine cannot meet the conditions anyway. Second: the problem of language. The Ukrainian parliament has abolished bilingualism. That has to be changed. Third: Donbass remains part of Ukraine. But Donbass needs greater autonomy. A working model would be that of South Tyrol. Fourth: Ukraine also needs security guarantees. The United Nations Security Council plus Germany should provide these guarantees. Fifth: Crimea. How long has Crimea been Russian? For Russia, Crimea is more than just a region, but part of its history. The war could be ended if geopolitical interests were not at play.

And international law.

Yes, but this is not just a legal question. The only people who could settle the war against Ukraine are the Americans. At the peace negotiations in March 2022 in Istanbul with Rustem Umjerov, the Ukrainians did not agree to peace because they were not allowed to. They first had to ask the Americans about everything they discussed. I had two conversations with Umyerov, then a one-on-one conversation with Putin and then with Putin’s envoy. Umyerov opened the conversation with greetings from Zelensky. The Austrian model or the 5+1 model was proposed as a compromise for Ukraine’s security guarantees. Umjerow thought that was good. He also showed willingness on the other points. He also said that Ukraine does not want NATO membership. He also said that Ukraine wants to reintroduce Russian in Donbass. But in the end nothing happened. My impression: Nothing could happen because everything else was decided in Washington. That was fatal. Because the result will now be that Russia will be tied more closely to China, which the West should not want.

And the Europeans?

You have failed. There would have been a window in March 2022. Ukrainians were ready to talk about Crimea. Even the Bild newspaper confirmed this at the time.

( Gerhard Schröder shows a page from the BILD newspaper with the title “Peace finally in sight?” It says: “Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyj (44) himself had already indicated concessions for negotiations: he is no longer insisting on NATO – His country’s accession, he told the US broadcaster ABC. And he was also ready for a ‘compromise’ about Crimea and the breakaway provinces in Donbass. ‘In every negotiation, my goal is to end the war with Russia,’ he said Zelenskyj to BILD.”)

According to Ukraine, the Bucha massacres committed by the Russians led to the end of the negotiations.

Nothing was known about Butscha during the talks with Umjerov on March 7th and 13th. I think the Americans didn’t want the compromise between Ukraine and Russia. The Americans believe they can keep the Russians down. Now it is the case that two actors, China and Russia, who are limited by the USA , are joining forces. Americans believe they are strong enough to keep both sides in check. In my humble opinion, this is a mistake. Just look at how torn the American side is now. Look at the chaos in Congress.

The Americans overestimated themselves?

That’s what I’m expecting.

Do you think your peace plan can be resumed?

Yes. And the only ones who can initiate this are France and Germany.

But how can you trust the Russians? In January 2022 it was said that the Russians did not want a war with Ukraine. Then, when the Russians invaded Donbass, it was said that the Russians didn’t want to go to Kiev. All of these promises have been broken. Why shouldn’t we be afraid that the Russians will go further and further?

We have no threat. This fear of the Russians coming is absurd. How are they supposed to defeat NATO, let alone occupy Western Europe?

They have almost come to Kiev.

What do the Russians want? Status quo in Donbass and Crimea. Not more. I think it was a fatal mistake that Putin started the war. It is clear to me that Russia feels threatened. Look: Turkey is a NATO member. There are missiles that can reach Moscow directly. The USA wanted to bring NATO to Russia’s western border, with Ukraine as a new member, for example. All of this felt like a threat to the Russians. There are also irrational points of view. I don’t want to deny that. The Russians responded with a mix of both: fear and forward defense. That’s why no one in Poland, the Baltics, and certainly not in Germany – all NATO members, by the way – has to believe they are in danger. The Russians would not start a war with any NATO member.

“There’s no money in peace. That’s why D.C. is always pushing for more war. Enough already, we are all on to your corrupt grift you scumbags,” Donald Trump Jr. said.

“A half million Ukrainians died for nothing and it never would’ve had enough American public support if not for Russiagate which was a complete fabrication,” Clint Russell commented.

“Washington used Ukrainians as cannon fodder to feed its military industrial complex,” Peter St Onge said.

“The U.S. federal government under banana Joe the wholly corrupt globalist puppet, is nothing more than a hopelessly evil mafia-like criminal cartel. But the mafia behaves with more honor,” SGTreport commented.

The former German chancellor has been criticized for his ‘friendship’ with Vladimir Putin.

Per Ukrayinska Pravda:

The former chancellor then claimed that he had spoken to Umierov and “tête-à-tête with Putin”, failing to specify when, where or in what role.

“However, nothing eventually happened. My impression is that nothing could happen because everything else was decided in Washington. It was fatal. Because the result now is that Russia will be more closely tied to China, which the West should not want,” concludes Schröder, who is close to Putin.

Answering the question of whether any agreements with Russia, which has grossly violated international law and attacked Ukraine despite its own promises, are credible, the former chancellor said Western Europe is “not in danger” as Russia cannot defeat NATO.

“Regardless of who is in power, there is a belief in Russia that the West wants to expand further with NATO, namely into the post-Soviet area. Keywords: Georgia and Ukraine. No one at the head of Russia will allow this to happen. This danger analysis may be emotional, but it is real for Russia. The West must understand this and compromise accordingly; otherwise, peace will be tough to achieve,” Schröder added.

Gerhard Schröder’s ties to Russian President Vladimir Putin and his work for Russian energy companies have drawn criticism, including from his home Social Democratic Party of Germany. Nevertheless, Schröder remains a member of the SPD.

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