Putin invites former German chancellor Schröder to his home for birthday
Photo: Gerhard Schröder and Vladimir Putin (Russian media)
Former German Chancellor Gerhard Schröder arrived in Moscow for a meeting with the management of a retail chain and attended Russian leader Vladimir Putin's birthday celebration, citing the Kremlin press service.
Putin celebrated his 74th birthday. The Kremlin press service published a joint photo with Schröder on October 8.
The Kremlin said that Putin learned about Schröder's arrival in Moscow "from media reports."
"The president invited his old friend to his home. Gerhard Schröder was with Vladimir Putin when the head of state celebrated his birthday yesterday," the Kremlin said.
Why Schröder arrived in Moscow
Schröder arrived in Moscow to meet with employees and management of the Globus retail chain.
He became a member of the supervisory board of Hyperglobus. This is the Russian subsidiary of the German holding company Globus Holding GmbH & Co. In Russia, it operates a chain of grocery hypermarkets.
In Germany, Schröder's new job in Russia was called a "betrayal of Europe."
Schröder served as Germany's chancellor from 1998 to 2005. He previously held senior positions at Rosneft and Nord Stream, the company operating the Nord Stream pipeline.
He has a controversial reputation in Germany. The reason is his longstanding close ties to Russia's energy sector and his personal friendship with Putin.
Steve Witkoff, US President Donald Trump's special envoy, and the American president's son-in-law, Jared Kushner, could travel to Moscow again for a meeting with the Kremlin leader.
According to Axios, this could happen in late October.
Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Sergey Ryabkov said that Russia does not intend to resume negotiations mediated by the United States in the near future.
He blamed Ukraine for the suspension of the trilateral meetings.
