BERLIN, March 10 — Former German Chancellor Gerhard Schroeder is meeting Russian President Vladimir Putin in Moscow for talks on ending the war in Ukraine, political news website Politico reported, citing sources familiar with the matter.

The visit comes after talks in Istanbul with a Ukrainian politician who is a member of the country’s delegation for peace talks with Russia, the sources told Politico.

Schroeder, German chancellor from 1998 to 2005, has been under the microscope over his links to Russian companies.

He is on the board of Russian oil giant Rosneft ROSN.MM and is chairman of the shareholders’ committee of the company that is in charge of building the Nord Stream 2 pipeline and which is being sanctioned by the United States.

He has faced calls from some German government politicians to step down from such roles as the other former leaders announced they were leaving positions on the boards of Russian companies over Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. — Reuters