According to German news agency DPA, Schroeder made the remarks during a speech in Berlin to a trade-union poor-relief organization, the AWO.
The former chancellor contended that it had been a blunder for the United States to train Georgia's military and establish anti-missile defenses in Poland and the Czech Republic.
He also said it was a mistake to recognize Kosovo as an independent state.
"These policies must have seemed constricting to Russia," he was quoted as saying, adding that the Georgian attack on South Ossetia had crossed "more red lines" for Moscow that led the Russians to counteract.
Published by Mike Hitchen, Mike Hitchen Consulting
