Gerhard Schröder attended Vladimir Putin’s birthday celebration at the Russian president’s residence

Former German Chancellor Gerhard Schröder attended Russian President Vladimir Putin’s 74th birthday celebration at his residence in Russia, the Kremlin announced on Thursday. The meeting took place after Schröder had been in Moscow on business for the Globus company.

The Kremlin said that Putin learned from the morning press about the former chancellor’s presence in the Russian capital and invited him to his home. Images posted on Telegram show the two smiling and shaking hands, in a setting with a fireplace and samovar.

Schröder, Chancellor of Germany from 1998 to 2005, recently joined the supervisory board of Hyperglobus, which operates Globus stores in Russia. He visited one of the stores in Moscow, where employees greeted him with applause.

The former chancellor is criticized in Germany for his close ties with Putin and with major Russian energy companies, including Nord Stream and Rosneft. The ties continued even after the Russian invasion of Ukraine in 2022. In May, Putin suggested that Schröder could represent Europe in peace negotiations, but European foreign ministers rejected the idea.