The German Foreign Minister Wadephul confronted his Russian counterpart Lavrov about the incident in Leipzig, where last month a drone was found containing explosives and a detonator. Germany had already stated earlier that Russia was behind the incident. Wadephul made clear to Lavrov that Germany will defend itself.
The two ministers spoke yesterday on the sidelines of the UN summit in New York. It was the first time in years that the Russian and German foreign ministers spoke to each other. The last meeting was in January 2022, just before the Russian invasion of Ukraine.
Wadephul said today that the decision to meet Lavrov was driven by security considerations and the need to address a growing crisis around food exports.
Hunger Crisis
Among other things, the two discussed the export of grain and energy from Russia and Ukraine via the Black Sea. According to a spokesperson for the German delegation, Wadephul asked Lavrov to "do everything possible to reach an agreement on the export of grain via the Black Sea."
In recent months, exports have drastically declined due to attacks by Russia and Ukraine on each other's seaports. Both infrastructure and ships were targeted.
As a second reason for the conversation, Wadephul mentioned the calls from colleagues in the southern hemisphere to speak with Russia. "There is a threat of famine there, and therefore I advocated for a ceasefire on the Black Sea," he said.
Since the Russian invasion of Ukraine, diplomatic relations between the countries had been frozen. That silence was necessary, according to Wadephul. "But now the time had come that we had to talk to each other," he said.
That relations are still icy became clear when Lavrov said after the conversation that he had heard nothing new from his German colleague and that he might as well have just called him.
Wadephul called that the reaction of someone who has no arguments and is in a weak position. "Russia cannot explain why it continues this war. It is pointless and costs thousands of lives."
Correspondent Chiem Balduk in Berlin:
In the past, Berlin saw itself, precisely because of German history, as a bridge builder between east and west. The German-Russian axis was therefore strong. Moscow broke that relationship through the war against Ukraine and the hybrid attacks on Europe. Yet there remains a strong call in Germany, for example from the AfD, to engage in talks with the Russians.
Wadephul has now responded to that, even though little was expected. Until now, Berlin saw no point in such talks because Russia does not seem willing to engage in serious negotiations. That image was confirmed by Lavrov's contemptuous reaction afterward. Wadephul's demands and warnings were not taken seriously. There seems to be no rapprochement, but Wadephul was able to show that he is willing to engage in talks.
According to the German magazine Bild, controversy arose over the meeting. Observers saw that before the start, Lavrov placed a 21-page propaganda brochure on Wadephul's chair. It claimed that Ukraine staged the massacre in Bucha. The title of the document was: The Heirs of Goebbels: Falsification of the Events in Bucha and the Bloody Staging by the Kiev Regime.
The document was not discussed during the meeting. In footage shared by the spokeswoman of the Russian Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Wadephul can be seen placing his notepad on top of the papers. According to her, he "shamefully covered them."
According to Bild, the German delegation called it "a cheap attempt at provocation."