Diplomatic contact between Russia and Germany resumed when Sergey Lavrov and Johann Wadephul met during sessions of the United Nations General Assembly. It was the first direct contact between the two countries' foreign ministers since the period before Russia's full-scale attack on Ukraine.
The Russian Foreign Ministry said Germany had requested the meeting. Lavrov and Wadephul discussed bilateral relations as well as the war in Ukraine.
The ministry said Wadephul repeated the German government's position on these issues, which it had previously made public on many occasions. In an address to the United Nations Security Council this week, the German foreign minister said his country's support for Ukraine would continue and called for negotiations on a ceasefire and lasting peace.

Rising tensions between Russia and Germany
Tensions between Moscow and Berlin had also risen at the time of the meeting. Germany alleged in August that attempts had been made to blow up two cargo planes at Leipzig Airport using a drone carrying explosive devices.
Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova, meanwhile, claimed that Germany had sought to restrict the media's access to the meeting. Zakharova said Germany had requested that no questions be allowed and no audio recording be made at the start of the meeting.
Lavrov's previous contact with Berlin was in 2022
Lavrov met Germany's previous foreign minister, Annalena Baerbock, in January 2022. That meeting was the last between the two countries' foreign ministers before Russia's attack on Ukraine.