Foreign Minister Johann Wadephul met in New York for talks with his Russian counterpart, Sergey Lavrov. This is the first bilateral meeting between the foreign ministers of the two countries since the beginning of Russia’s full-scale war against Ukraine in 2022. ZEIT learned of this on the sidelines of the UN General Debate, UNN writes.
Details
A representative of the Russian Foreign Ministry said that the meeting took place at Germany’s initiative. In New York, ZEIT learned that the Russian side had signaled through third parties that it was ready for talks.
According to delegation representatives, Wadephul called on Lavrov to stop the escalation against Germany, Europe and NATO. As noted, incidents such as the attempted terrorist attack in Leipzig and other hybrid attacks would not change Germany’s position on Ukraine.
During the conversation with Lavrov, Wadephul condemned Russia’s ongoing aggression against Ukraine’s civilian population. According to delegation representatives, the foreign minister also emphasized that Ukraine was ready for talks and that Germany supported this course.
At the same time, delegation representatives said that the German government had expressed its readiness to make relations between Germany and Russia more constructive. Wadephul had previously stated the condition for this: Russian President Vladimir Putin must demonstrate a willingness to end the war against Ukraine, which violates international law.