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Former SPD Chancellor Gerhard Schröder
Photo: Omer Messinger / EPA-EFE
Gerhard Schröder's surprising trip to Moscow was greeted cautiously in the SPD.
It remains to be seen whether the former chancellor's visit to Vladimir Putin will bring anything, SPD leader Lars Klingbeil told SPIEGEL.
»One thing is clear: everything that helps to stop this horrible war in Ukraine is good.«
Other SPD politicians were also cautiously optimistic.
"Schröder has acted in such a way that it was shameful," MP Helge Lindh told SPIEGEL.
But if Schröder has the approval of the Ukrainian government, "it's not up to us to say whether it will do anything."
However, Schröder is not traveling on behalf of the German government.
"Any access to Putin to stop the insane war without false concessions is acceptable and worth trying," said Lindh, recalling Schröder's mediations in Turkey in 2017.
"Regardless of how realistic you think such a possibility is, it would be great if Schröder could use his personal connection to Putin to actually achieve progress in Moscow for a ceasefire and comprehensive humanitarian aid for Ukraine," said the SPD - MP Ralf Stegner.
As the news portal "Politico" reported, Schröder traveled to the Russian capital at the request of Ukraine.
According to SPIEGEL information, the federal government knew nothing about the trip.
According to "Politico", Schröder traveled to Istanbul on Monday to seek possible solutions to the war with Ukrainian politicians.
At the request of the Ukrainian government, the former chancellor is said to have asked the Kremlin for an appointment with President Putin.
Schröder was finally taken to Moscow by a Russian plane on Wednesday.
So far, nothing is known about the conversation with Putin.
Germany is a free country, said MP Frank Junge.
Schröder can decide for himself what to do and what not.
"If his efforts make a difference, that would be good."
Ukrainian Ambassador Melnyk: Not involved
The Ukrainian ambassador to Germany, Andrei Melnyk, told SPIEGEL on Thursday evening that he had no knowledge of Schröder's trip.
“There were no discussions and no information on this matter between the embassy and Mr. Schröder.
And also no mandate on our part.
The embassy was not aware that Mr. Schröder was planning a trip to Moscow.«
Melnyk explained that he only found out about the former chancellor's trip to Russia on Thursday through the media and the report by "Politico".
"I was amazed, it's exciting," said the diplomat.
Schröder's wife Soyeon Schröder-Kim posted a photo of herself with her hands clasped and her eyes closed on her Instagram page in the evening, with St. Basil's Cathedral on Red Square in Moscow in the background.
She did not comment on this picture.
According to the report by "Politico", Schröder-Kim accompanied her husband on the trip to Moscow - with a detour via Istanbul.
Melnyk himself brought up the idea of Schröder's attempt at mediation in a program on "Bild-TV" about a week ago.
He explained to SPIEGEL: »It was a spontaneous, creative idea in an ongoing discussion«.
Melnyk was unable to say whether the former chancellor could have been commissioned to travel to Moscow by other authorities in the Ukraine, as the report by Politico suggests.
He has no information from Kyiv in this regard.
