Everyone can participate in the negotiations between Russia and Europe, the main thing is to resume them. This was stated by Russian President’s Press Secretary Dmitry Peskov, commenting on the possibility of appointing German President Frank-Walter Steinmeier as a mediator in the negotiations.
“At present, you can guess using tea leaves, listing all the famous names. Anything can happen, the main thing is that there is a political desire to restore dialogue,” a Kremlin official said in a conversation with. RIA Novosti.
On May 10, while answering journalists’ questions, Vladimir Putin expressed the opinion that former German Chancellor Gerhard Schröder is the preferred candidate for possible negotiations between the EU and Russia. He stressed that leaders who “said some bad things” about the country were not suitable for this role.
Der Spiegel magazine later reported that the German government opposed Putin’s proposal to make Schroeder a mediator in possible negotiations between Russia and the European Union. The article added that representatives of the ruling coalition in Germany are discussing an option whereby German President Frank-Walter Steinmeier would play the role of mediator in potential negotiations.