Former German chancellor Gerhard Schröder has said he wants to maintain contact with Russian President Vladimir Putin, despite Moscow's continuing war in Ukraine.
"I will not give up my opportunities for talks with President Putin," Schröder told the Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung newspaper in comments published on Sunday.
Schröder was Germany's chancellor from 1998 to 2005 and after leaving office was involved with Russian energy giants Gazprom and Rosneft. He is a longtime friend of Putin.
Schröder was widely criticized for maintaining his contacts to Putin since the war broke out and for failing to condemn Russia's role in the hostilities.
He recently resigned from his position on the supervisory board of the Russian energy company Rosneft and rejected a nomination to the Gazprom board.
Commenting on the debate in Germany over weapons deliveries to Ukraine, Schröder said: "Why focus on delivering weapons?"
He said he did not believe in a military solution. "The war can only be ended through diplomatic negotiations. The fate of the soldiers and the Ukrainian civilian population can only be eased through a diplomatic solution."
After the war began on February 24, Schröder travelled to Moscow in March and met with Putin. "As far as I understood him in my conversation, there is an interest on his part in a negotiated solution," Schröder told the German newspaper. "What such a solution looks like can only be clarified in a negotiation."
Schöder made it clear that, in his view, Ukraine is to blame for the fact that negotiations have failed so far.
Schröder, a Social Democrat (SPD), also commented on the fact that other members of the party have distanced themselves from him, including SPD leader Lars Klingbeil.
Klingbeil has said his friendship with Schröder is over. "That is disappointing. I think he feels he owes that to the office," Schröder said.
There have been several attempts to expel him from the party.
