German Foreign Minister Johann Wadephul met his Russian counterpart, Sergei Lavrov, in New York on the sidelines of the UN General Debate on Saturday for their first bilateral meeting in years.
German Foreign Minister Johann Wadephul met his Russian counterpart, Sergei Lavrov, in New York on the sidelines of the UN General Debate on Saturday for their first bilateral meeting in years.
The venue was a meeting room provided by the Russian side in the UN building.
The German side had requested the meeting, the TASS news agency quoted Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova as saying.
It is the first talks at this level since the start of Russia’s war against Ukraine in 2022. Although German and Russian government representatives have been present together at various international meetings since then, there have been no direct talks at foreign minister level.
The meeting in New York is taking place against the backdrop of ongoing efforts to bring the war in Ukraine to an end.
Wadephul and Lavrov are in the US city for the United Nations General Debate.
It was not immediately clear what specific issues the two foreign ministers discussed./dpa-argumentum.al
