BERLIN, October 9. /TASS/. Former German Chancellor Gerhard Schroder could be the key that opens the door to Russian President Vladimir Putin for Europe, Ralf Stegner, foreign policy expert for the Social Democratic Party of Germany (SPD) parliamentary group in the Bundestag, said in an interview with Der Tagesspiegel newspaper.

Stegner noted that Schroder had visited the Russian president in a private capacity. "The former chancellor is one of the few people who have access to Putin," he said. "Schroder can open doors to Putin," Stegner added. "If Schroder's visit contributed to peace by even a millimeter, then it was a success," the Social Democrat stressed.

"We in Germany should not engage in a witch hunt when a former chancellor travels to Moscow," he told the t-online news portal.

Meanwhile, Jochen Ott, the SPD candidate in the state election in North Rhine-Westphalia, believes Schroder could play a role in efforts to resolve the conflict in Ukraine. In an interview with the Funke media group, he stressed the need for "diplomatic initiatives." "Gerhard Schroder could play a role in this," Ott said.

Earlier, the Kremlin press service published photographs of the meeting between Putin and Schroder, noting that the Russian president had learned from media reports that Schroder was in Moscow on business for the Globus company and had invited him to his home.

Putin and Schroder developed a close friendship when the latter was head of the German government. The two politicians maintained their friendship after Schroder left office. The Russian leader has repeatedly said that the former German chancellor is someone who can be trusted and that he could, for example, serve as Europe’s negotiator on resolving the conflict in Ukraine.