"We and Germany both have a joint interest for the situation in the Balkans to develop according to a positive scenario," Lavrov said. Somewhat surprisingly, Lavrov also mentioned the Balkans, where a pro-Russian Serb leader was recently sanctioned by the US. In turn, Baerbock said Berlin needs a "reliable Russia" in order to "supply Europe with gas in the coming years." "This is the biggest commercial project of the last decade, aimed at providing energy security for Germany and all of Europe," he said. "We addressed the attention of our German colleagues to the counter-productivity of attempts to politicize this project," he said. Lavrov also urged a resolution to the standoff surrounding the Nord Stream 2 pipeline, which is still under inquiry by a German regulatory body. Lavrov noted that he and Baerbock agree that there was no alternative to the 2014 Minsk agreements, but also said there "unacceptable attempts" to shift the blame on Russia for them not being implemented.īaerbock in Moscow: Rafael Loss (European Council on Foreign Relations) speaks to DW What about the Nord Stream 2 pipeline and other issues? Such obligations include implementing a special status for parts of the pro-Russia Donbass region and opening the door to local elections in the area. Her Russian colleague, however, said that German officials should pressure their partners in Kyiv to have Ukraine "finally fulfill the obligations they had taken on" in previous rounds of the now-stalled talks. He also decried the damage done by anti-Russian sentiment in Brussels and "the group of anti-Russian countries in the EU."Īs expected, Baerbock called for "bringing new life" to the talks in the so-called Normandy format, which includes Ukraine, Germany, Russia and France. Lavrov seemed to strike a conciliatory tone at the Tuesday press conference, saying that the talks showed there was a possibility of slowly moving in a positive direction.
German FM visits Moscow: DW Correspondent Aaron Tilton reports But Russia denies seeking a pretext to invade Ukraine or planning an attack. Moscow has also been demanding that NATO drastically scale back its military buildup in eastern Europe and wants to secure a pledge from the trans-Atlantic military alliance that it will never accept Ukraine as a member. Russia currently has an estimated 100,000 troops stationed on its border with Ukraine.
"And we have no choice but to follow them, even if there is a high economic price," she added, in a reference to possible sanctions discussed by Western nations. "There will be no security in our joint European home if there are no rules everyone can rely on," said the Germany foreign minister. What did the ministers say about Ukraine?Īt a joint press conference, Baerbock said that the Russian troops' buildup near Ukraine had "no understandable reason" and it was "hard not to take as threat."
German Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock held talks with Russian colleague Sergey Lavrov in Moscow on Tuesday, seeking to ease tensions amid fears that Russia is preparing to invade Ukraine.īaerbock's first official trip to Russia comes just a day after talks in Kyiv about the crisis.