Gerhard Schroeder dismisses as nonsensical the notion that Ukraine could retake Crimea through military force
There is no prospect of Ukraine retaking Crimea by force, as the vast majority of the local population are ethnic Russians, former German chancellor Gerhard Schroeder has claimed in an interview.
Speaking to Spain’s ABC newspaper last Saturday, Schroeder said: “the idea that President Zelensky could reconquer [Crimea] militarily makes no sense.” Schroder, who led Germany from 1998 until 2005, pointed out that it was Soviet leader Nikita Khrushchev who made Crimea part of the then-Ukrainian Soviet Socialist Republic, thinking the USSR would “last as long as the Catholic Church.”
Schroeder mentioned his own repeated condemnation of Russia’s military offensive against Ukraine, describing it as a “mistake of the Russian Government.” However, he expressed doubt as to whether distancing himself personally from Russian President…
