Ukraine urges sanctions against German ex-leader Schroeder

Ukrainian Foreign Minister Pavlo Klimkin said the EU should consider levelling sanctions against German former chancellor Gerhard Schroeder for his vocal support of the Russian government, in an interview published yesterday.

"It is important that there are sanctions against those who advance (Russian President Vladimir) Putin's projects abroad," Klimkin told the German daily Bild.

“Gerhard Schroeder is Putin's most important lobbyist worldwide. It should be examined whether the EU can take action."

Klimkin's comments came after a similar call by the Wall Street Journal in an editorial on Friday.

Schroeder, a close friend of Putin, just weeks after leaving office in 2005 became head of the shareholders' committee of Nord Stream which delivers gas to Germany through a Baltic Sea pipeline and is majority-owned by Russia's Gazprom.

Last August, Schroeder again drew fire for accepting a $500,000-a-year pre-tax board job with state-controlled Russian oil giant Rosneft, which is subject to western sanctions over Moscow's role in the Ukraine conflict.

"I don't think what Schroeder is doing is okay," his successor in office, Angela Merkel, said at the time, joining a chorus of public criticism of the centre-left Social Democrat who served from 1998 until Merkel defeated him in 2005.

The European Union last week extended by a further six months sanctions against Russian and Ukrainian officials over their suspected involvement in the conflict in eastern Ukraine.

The EU also has individual sanctions in force against Russia over its 2014 annexation of Crimea from Ukraine.