A surprise meeting in New York between German Foreign Minister Johann Wadephul and his Russian counterpart Sergey Lavrov. The two diplomats met on the sidelines of the UN General Assembly, in the first bilateral talks between the foreign ministers of Germany and Russia since 2022. The meeting lasted about 20 minutes and was facilitated by the mediation of third countries.
According to Wadephuli, the conversation mainly focused on the war in Ukraine, grain exports and the drone incident at Leipzig/Halle airport. The German minister said he had made it clear to Lavrov that Berlin considers the drone incident to have crossed a "red line" and expects such cases not to be repeated.
Wadephul also stressed that Germany's support for Ukraine remains unchanged and that Russia must be ready to sit at the negotiating table. He described the meeting as part of diplomacy's role in keeping the channels of communication open, stressing that talking to adversaries is necessary even when the parties have opposing positions.
On the other hand, Lavrov downplayed the importance of the meeting, saying that he had not heard anything from the German side that was different from Berlin's public statements. According to him, the German positions were already known and the conversation did not bring any concrete changes.
The meeting took place at a time of high tensions between Berlin and Moscow, as Germany has accused Russia of involvement in recent security incidents, including the drone case at Leipzig/Halle airport.
In his speech to the UN General Assembly, Wadephul also focused on the risks and opportunities posed by the rapid development of artificial intelligence, calling for international rules to ensure that technology is used in a manner consistent with human dignity.
