Russia, Germany Hold First Foreign Ministers’ Talks Since 2022 At UNGA

Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov and German Foreign Minister Johann Wadephul held their first talks since before Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022, meeting on the sidelines of the UN General Assembly in New York on Saturday amid sharply deteriorating ties between Moscow and Berlin.

The roughly 20-minute meeting came as Germany continues to support Ukraine and tensions with Russia have intensified following an attempted drone attack at Leipzig/Halle Airport in August. Germany has accused Russia of being behind the incident, while Moscow has rejected the allegations.

Wadephul urged Lavrov to abandon what Germany described as Russia’s “dangerous path of escalation” toward Germany, Europe and NATO. He also stressed Berlin’s continued willingness to improve relations with Moscow, but said that would require Russia’s leadership to demonstrate a genuine willingness to end the war in Ukraine.

The ministers also discussed the war in Ukraine and Black Sea grain exports. A German delegation official said Wadephul urged Russia to do everything possible to reach an agreement on grain shipments, warning that time was important because of food shortages, particularly in the Global South. He said a pragmatic solution could open the way for further concrete steps.

Wadephul later informed his European Union counterparts about the meeting, saying he had used the opportunity to reiterate Germany’s position on Russia’s war in Ukraine and call for an immediate and complete ceasefire, with particular attention to grain exports and energy infrastructure.

Lavrov, however, played down the encounter. At a subsequent news conference, he said “nothing new came from” the conversation, arguing that Wadephul had simply repeated Germany’s publicly stated position. Lavrov said the German minister could effectively have told him to read Berlin’s official statements instead.

The meeting took place shortly before Lavrov addressed the UN General Assembly, where he again defended Russia’s position on Ukraine and criticised Western governments. He accused the West of trying to preserve its privileges despite a changing global balance of power and said a “fairer, multipolar world order” was emerging.

Lavrov also opposed granting permanent UN Security Council seats to Germany and Japan, while backing permanent membership for India and Brazil and calling for greater representation for Asia, Africa and Latin America.

The diplomatic contact came as fighting between Russia and Ukraine continued to intensify in the air. Russia has increasingly used missiles, glide bombs and jet-powered drones against Ukraine, while Kyiv has carried out long-range drone strikes against Russian oil refineries and other targets.

Ukrainian officials said Russian attacks killed four people on Saturday, while Russian authorities reported three deaths from a Ukrainian drone attack. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy again called for stronger international measures against Moscow, saying Russia was escalating the conflict every day.

The war has also continued to disrupt grain, fuel and fertiliser supplies, adding to its wider global economic and geopolitical impact. Russia, Ukraine and the United States have held three rounds of trilateral negotiations this year without a major breakthrough, while Washington has been pushing for further technical-level discussions.

Zelenskyy said Friday that Kyiv was awaiting a date from Washington for potential three-way technical talks. Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov said Russian President Vladimir Putin and US President Donald Trump had discussed such a meeting, but no specific plans had been finalised. Putin has also said proposals to resume negotiations remain on the table.