Russia “activates various emissaries with theses that the terrorist state wants negotiations,” the Ukrainian president said in his daily video address in an apparent allusion to Gerhard Schröder without quoting him by name.
“If Russia really wanted an end to the war, it would not have deployed its reserves in southern Ukraine and committed mass murder on Ukrainian territory,” he continued. .
“It is simply disgusting that former leaders of powerful states with European values are working for Russia, which is fighting against these values,” he concluded.
The Ukrainian president was reacting to statements by Mr Schröder who told German media in an interview published on Wednesday: “The good news is that the Kremlin wants a negotiated solution”.
He said he met President Vladimir Putin last week during his visit to Moscow.
According to him, the agreement on the export of cereals reached in Istanbul is a first success and “perhaps this can slowly extend to a truce”.
Since the invasion of Ukraine in February, the former chancellor has been under pressure in Germany to sever ties with Putin and with the Russian energy giants.
German Chancellor Olaf Scholz, who like Schröder comes from the Social Democratic Party, has repeatedly urged the former leader to give up his jobs in Russia.
In May, the German parliament decided to strip Schröder of the benefits, including an office and paid staff, granted to him as a former chancellor.
Schröder, German chancellor from 1998 to 2005, condemned Russia’s invasion of Ukraine as unjustified, but said dialogue must continue with Moscow.