Chicago Tribune: Schroeder says Germany should expand energy ties with Russia

Former Chancellor Gerhard Schroeder said Wednesday that Germany should deepen energy ties with Russia and urged an end to sanctions, clashing with his successor Angela Merkel over her response to the crisis in Ukraine.

"Germany doesn't need a new Russia policy based on confrontation, as is being demanded by some hawks," Schroeder said in a speech at a Russian-German business conference in Rostock. He said Germany needs to return to elements of the old policy of "detente" with Russia.

Schroeder, who served as Social Democratic chancellor from 1998 to 2005, retains close ties to Russian President Vladimir Putin and celebrated his 70th birthday this year in St. Petersburg, where he was photographed in a bear hug with the Russian leader. Schroeder is chairman of the Shareholders' Committee of Nord Stream, the Russian-German natural gas pipeline.
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