Berlin said a clear no. The former chancellor Gerhard Schroeder cannot be a mediator between Moscow and Kyiv - and not because he lacks experience, but because he has an oversized personal friendship with Vladimir Putin and a long-running engagement with Russian energy companies. As one source put it: „Putin's friend simply cannot be a mediator."

Putin floated the proposal through the front door. „Among European politicians, I would personally like Schroeder as an interlocutor," he said. That's a sentence with a triple function: to bring Schroeder back onto the diplomatic stage, to split the Western bloc (because in Germany there are tensions around this idea), and to send a message that Moscow is ready to talk - but on its own terms.

The German coalition government is now floating an alternative: president Frank-Walter Steinmeier. According to Der Spiegel, the idea of joint mediation by Steinmeier and Schroeder is even being weighed - „an interesting idea," according to a government source. Translation: Berlin doesn't want to outright reject the offer, because outright rejection would mean walking away from any talks on Ukraine.

Inside the SPD (Schroeder's party), the picture is split. Adis Ahmetović says: „Every offer must be seriously analysed." Ralf Stegner adds that rejecting such an initiative „would be irresponsible" if it gives Europe a seat in the talks. Schroeder, who is now 82, declined to comment through his office.

For the Balkan perspective, this matters. The lesson: even the big European powers have internal splits when it comes to Russia. Germany is not „monolithic" in its approach. And that's an instructive thing for our countries, who keep asking themselves - „why doesn't Europe speak with one voice?" The answer - because not even Berlin speaks with one voice.

The question that stays open: what is Putin actually offering a mediator for? Is it a sign of weakness, or a manoeuvre to buy time? Or is it simply a tactic - asking for Schroeder knowing he'll be refused, then proposing someone „worse" you'll be forced to negotiate with? Diplomacy has its scripts. And none of them is what it looks like.