Gerhard Schröder, Germany’s chancellor between 1998 and 2005 and former chairman of the board at Rosneft, Russia’s oil giant, is currently in Moscow, Der Spiegel reports.
Schröder came to negotiate the Nord Stream 1 gas supply from Russia to Germany, says Spiegel. The former chancellor, however, claims that he arrived in Russia’s capital “for vacation.”
“We are aware that Schröder is currently in our country. No meeting [with Putin] is scheduled, but we do not rule out this could happen,” said Dmitry Peskov, Putin’s spokesman.
Schröder stepped down as chairman of the board at Rosneft in May. He made this decision after the ruling coalition of Germany agreed to take away his ex-chancellor privileges over his ties with Russia.
