By Antoni Slodkowski and Tom Balmforth
In a sign of the continued frostiness, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov told a news conference that he had learned nothing new from his German counterpart in the talks that Berlin had not already said publicly in its official statements. “I told him that frankly … you could just have called me and said: ‘read my statement’,” Lavrov said. Still, the ministers discussed bilateral ties and the war in Ukraine, officials from both sides said. German Foreign Minister Johann Wadephul used the talks to urge Lavrov to do “everything possible to reach an agreement on grain exports via the Black Sea,” a German delegation source said. Lavrov told the news conference that Russia had been in talks with India, Egypt and Turkey about proposals to ensure safe navigation in the Black Sea, potentially involving bilateral deals between Russia and those countries. The German minister also told Lavrov that “a pragmatic solution could pave the way for further concrete steps”, the source said. The German government said this month it had concluded that Russia was responsible for that attempted drone attack.
The meeting comes amid diplomatic efforts to revive Russia and Ukraine’s Black Sea grain and energy exports that have been sharply curtailed by attacks on vessels and port infrastructure. In a sign of the sensitivities around meeting the wartime Russian foreign minister, Wadephul notified his European allies of the meeting afterwards in a message seen by Reuters. It closed a consulate and a Russian cultural centre in Berlin in retaliation.
