On the sidelines of the UN General Assembly in New York, German Foreign Minister Johann Wadephul unexpectedly met with his Russian counterpart Sergei Lavrov. According to reports by tagesschau and Deutsche Welle (September 26–27, 2026), this was the first bilateral conversation between the foreign ministers of Germany and Russia since the start of the full-scale attack on Ukraine in 2022.
About 20 minutes and three key topics
The conversation lasted about 20 minutes. According to Wadephul in an interview with tagesthemen, the meeting was organized through the mediation of third countries: several colleagues from other states advised him to agree when a signal appeared that Moscow was ready for a brief exchange.
Among the topics named by the German minister:
- grain exports from Ukraine and Russia — in particular the risks for countries like Egypt, which lacks food;
- the drone incident at Leipzig/Halle Airport — Berlin accuses Russia of an attempted attack that could have endangered aircraft; the airport is an important logistics hub for aid to Ukraine;
- Germany's support for Ukraine, which Wadephul called "completely unchanged," and the demand that Russia sit down at the negotiating table.
"You don't have to negotiate with friends — you do with adversaries"
Wadephul stated that a direct conversation with Lavrov does not mean a reversal of German foreign policy: Berlin continues to stand on the side of international law and Ukraine. At the same time, he emphasized that the task of diplomacy is to talk even with those with whom there are fundamental disagreements. Even if the meeting did not yield a positive result, the minister considers it necessary: to the reproaches that Germany "should finally talk to Russia," he responds — that has already been done, but Moscow is currently not demonstrating a constructive position on ending the war.
After the conversation, Lavrov quickly questioned its usefulness and told the dpa agency that he had heard nothing new from Berlin.
De-escalation and hybrid attacks
According to DW, Wadephul called on Russia to step back from the dangerous path of escalation toward Germany, Europe, and NATO. He stressed: incidents like the Leipzig case or other hybrid attacks will not undermine Berlin's determination to support Ukraine. Earlier, Germany closed the Russian consulate general in Bonn; Moscow responded by restricting the work of Goethe Institutes.
The solution, according to the German minister, has been known since the first day of the war: an end to Russian aggression, withdrawal of troops, and a lasting ceasefire. Ukraine has repeatedly confirmed its readiness for negotiations; Germany is ready to continue supporting this path.
This material was prepared based on German media: tagesschau (09/27/2026) and Deutsche Welle (09/26/2026). The text is retold in my own words in Ukrainian.