Steffi Loos/Getty Images Christian Lindner: Germany should accept Crimean annexation as ‘permanent provisional solution’ ‘I verbalized what many others are thinking,’ says leader of Free Democrats.

The leader of the German Free Democrats Christian Lindner defended his foreign policy in an interview with Bild am Sonntag, after he caused an uproar by calling for the Russian annexation of Crimea to be considered a "permanent provisional solution."

The conflict around the Ukrainian peninsula of Crimea, which was annexed by Russia in March 2014, should be "encapsulated" so that progress can be made on other issues, Lindner — whose party is expected to reenter parliament after September's election and become a possible coalition partner for Angela Merkel — told German media group Funke on Saturday.

He also called for the European Union to not make the lifting of sanctions — imposed on Russia in response to the annexation — conditional on fulfilling its responsibilities in the Minsk agreement and to reward Moscow for "positive intermediary steps."

"To be honest, I verbalized what many others are thinking and what has already quietly been part of our Realpolitik for a long time," Lindner said.

"And at least, because of this commotion, we're now talking about Crimea again, after being silent for too long," he added.

According to Lindner, the party has not changed its critical position toward Moscow. "Still, we can and must take lessons from history about how these conflicts can be frozen and then resolved step by step."

Looking ahead to Germany's federal election in September, Lindner said it was clear "the race for the top seat is over, Angela Merkel will stay as chancellor."

According to the latest polls, Merkel's CDU/CSU union is holding steady at 38 percent while the SPD trails behind with 23 percent.

"The exciting outcome to watch will be for third place," he added. "That's where we'll know what message the country is sending with this election."

Germany's Linke is the third-strongest party with 10 percent of the vote, closely followed by the Greens, right-wing Alternative für Deutschland, and the Free Democrats with 8 percent each.