German Social Democrats have called for a new course towards Russia

The co-chairwoman of the German Social Democrats called for a revision of the policy towards Russia. "Putin is no longer acting rationally," Zaskia Esken said.

Saskia Esken, co-chairwoman of the German Social Democratic Party (SPD), called for a review of policy toward Russia.

"Resolving conflicts through dialogue has been extremely successful for many decades, as has transformation through trade. However, we see that Putin is no longer acting rationally," the SPD leader said in an interview with the Funke Mediengruppe published on Wednesday, May 11.

The SPD also includes German Chancellor Olaf Scholz and his predecessor Gerhard Schröder.

According to Esken, the Russian president "flouts international law, treaties, and trust cooperation".

"For us, this means that we will be even more united in Europe and with our international partners to be able to defend our values and freedom," she said.

The SPD co-chair stressed that in the future Germany "should no longer be unilaterally dependent on Russian energy imports."

Earlier, Esken called on former German Chancellor Gerhard Schröder to voluntarily leave the ranks of the Social Democrats.

"We must stop perceiving him as a former chancellor," Esken said. According to her, the party leadership had already asked Schröder to give up his position in the Russian concern Rosneft, but this had no result.

Source: DW