Former Chancellor of Germany Gerhard Schröder has claimed the United States refused to allow Ukraine to sue for peace against Russia in March 2022 and deliberately sabotaged negotiations held in the Turkish capital of Istanbul last year.
Schröder, who was German Chancellor between 1999 and 2004, recently told the German newspaper Berliner Zeitung that the window of opportunity to establish peace was missed last year because of the Biden government’s actions, with the Ukrainians even prepared to discuss the status of Crimea – annexed by the Russians in 2014.
“At the peace negotiations in Istanbul in March 2022 with Rustem Umeirov, the Ukrainians did not agree on peace because they were not allowed to. They first had to ask the Americans about everything they had discussed,” Schröder stated.
Ukrainian Minister of Defence Rustem Umierov “opened the conversation with greetings from Zelensky. As a compromise for the safety guarantees of Ukraine, the Austrian model or the 5+1 model was proposed. Umierov 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 Donbas,” Schröder continued.
“But in the end, nothing happened. My impression: Nothing could happen, because everything else was decided in Washington. That was fatal,” he added before showing the interviewer a copy of the newspaper Bild, which detailed the discussions between Ukraine and Russia under the title “Finally Peace in Sight.”
The former Chancellor is currently under investigation by the German Federal Prosecutor for “crime against humanity” as a result of his unwillingness to relinquish his posts at Russian energy companies and his supposed proximity to Russian President Vladimir Putin. Angela Merkel’s former party, the Christian Democrats (CDU), even suggested putting Schröder on the official European Union sanctions list after the war began.