German Chancellor Friedrich Merz said on Tuesday that Moscow’s response to the latest meeting between the German and Russian foreign ministers showed that it was not currently ready to hold serious negotiations aimed at ending the war in Ukraine, renewing his call for the Russian government to return to the negotiating table.
Speaking at a news conference in Berlin alongside visiting Kazakh President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev, Merz said: “Russia’s subsequent assessment of this conversation showed that it is not interested at all at this stage in holding serious talks.” The German chancellor “once again called on the Russian government to come to the negotiating table”, stressing that his country was ready to continue supporting Kyiv if Moscow did not respond.
He added: “But if Russia is not ready for that, we are... ready to support Ukraine for a long time.” Merz said that “Russia will not win this war”, warning that it would “suffer immense damage” the longer the conflict continued. His comments came days after Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov met his German counterpart, Johann Wadephul, on Saturday on the sidelines of United Nations meetings.
Germany calls on Russia to end escalation
A German diplomat said Wadephul “called on the Russian Federation to abandon its dangerous approach of escalation” towards Germany, Europe and NATO. The minister also stressed, according to the diplomat, “Berlin’s determination to support Ukraine” as the war continued.
In contrast, Lavrov accused European countries in his address to the United Nations of seeking to obstruct negotiations aimed at ending the conflict between Moscow and Kyiv. The Russian foreign minister vowed that his country would achieve its objectives in Ukraine.
German Defence Minister Boris Pistorius criticised Lavrov’s position on diplomatic efforts on Tuesday, saying that he had “mocked the negotiating efforts”. He said Russia had shown “no real movement, only mockery” towards efforts to reach a settlement. The Lavrov-Wadephul talks were the first of their kind since the start of Russia’s military operation in Ukraine.
Diplomatic tensions escalate between Berlin and Moscow
The meeting took place amid rising tensions between Berlin and Moscow in recent weeks, after Germany held Russia responsible for an attempted drone attack targeting Leipzig airport.
Following that escalation, each country ordered the closure of the other’s consulate, adding a new diplomatic dispute to the existing tensions between Germany and Russia, as Berlin continued to declare its support for Ukraine and call on Moscow to engage in serious negotiations.
