German foreign minister sees no readiness for peace during first meeting with Russian counterpart since 2022

German Foreign Minister Johann Wadephul has said that during a meeting with his Russian counterpart Sergei Lavrov, he saw no willingness on the part of the Russian delegation to refrain from further escalation.

Source: Deutsche Welle, citing Wadephul speaking on German TV channel ZDF; Tagesschau

Details: The officials met on the sidelines of the 81st session of the UN General Assembly in New York. Wadephul said he had used the conversation to urge Russia to abandon its path of escalation.

He said he had made it clear to the Russian delegation that actions such as the attempted sabotage involving drones at Leipzig/Halle Airport were unacceptable.

Wadephul said he had made it clear to Lavrov that "a line had been crossed, we expect this not to happen again, and we are ready to respond at any time".

Meanwhile, Wadephul stressed that he had not conducted any negotiations with Lavrov concerning Ukraine's future. The minister emphasised that such negotiations were a matter solely for the Ukrainians themselves.

Quote from Wadephul: "There are indeed fundamental differences between the positions of our governments, and these also need to be discussed. During the Cold War, exchanges of views and contacts between the two sides never ceased. And I thought it was right, particularly now, to try to find an initial opportunity for such dialogue."

Details: The German foreign minister warned the Russian representative that Berlin would continue its comprehensive support for Ukraine and maintain economic pressure on Russia.

"This support is absolutely unwavering, and Russia must now come to the negotiating table. There is no justification whatsoever for this war, which is claiming countless lives, including Russian lives, but above all those of Ukrainian civilians," Wadephul said.

However, the minister acknowledged that he had seen no willingness on the part of the Russian delegation to heed his call to begin negotiations on ending the war.

"To all those who keep saying that Germany needs to negotiate, that Germany needs to talk to Russia, I say now: we are doing so. And unfortunately, Russia is currently showing no willingness to adopt a constructive negotiating position," the foreign minister said.

According to Russian state propaganda agency TASS, the meeting lasted "just over 20 minutes" and covered "bilateral relations and the situation surrounding Ukraine". Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova said the meeting had taken place at the request of the German side.

The foreign ministers of Germany and Russia last met in Moscow on 18 January 2022. At the time, Annalena Baerbock travelled to the Russian capital amid Russia's rapid military build-up near Ukraine's borders and warnings from Western intelligence agencies that Moscow was preparing for a full-scale invasion.

Background:

• The resumption of diplomatic contacts at this level was preceded by a series of Russian nuclear threats against European countries.
• On 10 September, Russian Security Council Deputy Chairman Dmitry Medvedev threatened to wipe Lithuania "off the map" if nuclear weapons were deployed on its territory, and claimed that its NATO allies would not dare invoke Article 5 on collective defence.
• On 11 September, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov threatened Vilnius, saying that if nuclear weapons were deployed in Lithuania, the country would come under the sights of Russian nuclear weapons.
• On 21 September, it was reported that intelligence officials from three EU countries believed Moscow was planning to step up provocations against NATO in the coming months.
• On 25 September, Russian state news agency RIA Novosti published a column headlined "Russia is in for another SVO. It will be very short", which threatened Lithuania with a nuclear strike. The article was subsequently deleted.
• On the same day, political scientist Sergei Karaganov, an adviser to Russian leader Vladimir Putin, called on television for preparations to use weapons of mass destruction.
• "Europe is the source of humanity's greatest troubles and Russia's greatest troubles. A nuclear war in Europe can easily be won... We would rather it did not come to that. But we must be prepared for it, and they must know that," Karaganov said.

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