Former German chancellor Gerhard Schroeder does not regret his stance on Russia despite its current war against Ukraine. He noted that there is no fault in the former pro-Russian sentiments of Berlin..

He stated this in an interview with the New York Times..

According to the publication, 17 days after leaving the post of chancellor in 2005, Schroeder received a phone call from his friend Russian President Vladimir Putin with an offer to head the Nord Stream shareholders' committee, which was responsible for building the first underwater gas pipeline.. This gas pipeline was agreed in the last weeks of his chancellorship and with his strong support.

After 17 years, he remains as self-confident, the newspaper notes..

“I don’t blame myself… It’s none of my business,” he commented, Germany’s dependence on Russian gas, which allowed Putin to put pressure on Europe and fill the military coffers.

So he thinks now, when Putin is waging a brutal war against Ukraine, and despite the fact that all of Germany is reconsidering relations with Russia.

The publication notes that Germany had a belief, supported by a long line of chancellors, industry leaders, journalists and the public, that Russia, bound by trade relations, would risk too much in the event of a conflict with Europe..

The NYT notes that Schroeder was far from alone in this belief, but today he has become the most prominent face of that long era of miscalculations, not only because he does not express regret, but also because he profited handsomely from it, earning millions on the promotion of Russian.

When asked about Russian war crimes in Bucha near Kyiv, he replied that they should be investigated.. At the same time, Schroeder expressed doubt that the orders for Bucha came from Putin..

" What we need to do now is to establish peace as quickly as possible,"

The publication notes that Schroeder secretly tried to take advantage of his status as a friend of Putin and influence him in order to stop the war in Ukraine.. But he didn't get anything..

According to the NYT, since the start of the large-scale attack on Ukraine, all members of Schroeder's parliamentary office, including his chief of staff and a 20-year-old speechwriter who have worked with him since he was chancellor, have resigned in protest..

The publication also notes that Schroeder renounced his honorary citizenship in Hanover before the city authorities did so.. The last time in Hanover was deprived of honorary citizenship of Adolf Hitler, posthumously. And when the Borussia Dortmund football club, which Schroeder has supported since the age of 6, demanded a harsh statement from him regarding Putin, he canceled his membership..

Schroeder currently remains chairman of the Nord Stream shareholders' committee, reportedly earning around $270,000.. per year, and chaired the supervisory board of the Nord Stream 2 concern, which built a second pipeline connecting Russia with Germany under the Baltic Sea until it was closed.

Since 2017, he has also been the chairman of the board of directors of the Russian oil company Rosneft, earning, according to publicly available data, another $600,000.. a year on top of his monthly government stipend of $9,000. as former chancellor.