Direct diplomacy at the UN General Assembly

Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov and German Foreign Minister Johann Wadephul held a twenty-minute meeting on the sidelines of the 81st session of the United Nations General Assembly in New York on September 26, 2026. The bilateral talk marked the first direct contact between Russian and German foreign ministers since January 18, 2022, when Lavrov met former foreign minister Annalena Baerbock in Moscow. Relations between Berlin and Moscow had deteriorated following German accusations that Russia orchestrated an attempted drone attack against Leipzig airport, which led Germany to close the Russian consulate in Bonn. Moscow retaliated by closing the German consulate in Saint Petersburg. Wadephul urged Moscow to abandon its escalation policy and halt hybrid, cyber, and drone operations against Germany, European allies, and NATO.

Clashing assessments of the meeting

The bilateral encounter produced no breakthrough. Lavrov reported that Wadephul read from prepared notes restating public German positions, stating that the exchange offered nothing new. According to Lavrov, the subtext of the German initiative involved seeking Russian concessions on Ukraine and securing an agreement regarding Black Sea maritime transit for oil tankers and dry cargo ships. Russian Foreign Ministry spokesperson Maria Zakharova stated that Berlin requested the meeting while demanding restrictions on media access, no questions from reporters, no audio recordings of opening remarks, and an information embargo. In his UN General Assembly address, Lavrov maintained that Moscow will achieve all military objectives in Ukraine regardless of circumstances.

“While aware of the futility of such a strategy, Europe does everything to obstruct peace negotiations that the administration of Donald Trump is interested in. The West floods the Ukrainian regime with weapons, supplying Kyiv with drones and missiles used to strike civilians and civilian infrastructure.”

Trump push for negotiations

United States President Donald Trump expressed optimism that a negotiated settlement between Moscow and Kyiv could be reached before winter. Speaking to reporters before traveling to Tennessee, Trump referenced discussions with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky in New York and cited an estimated 25,000 casualties across both sides over the past month.

“I spoke with Zelensky for a long time and on many things I agree with him very much. But you know what I want them to do? An agreement. I want him to reach an agreement with Putin and I want Putin to reach an agreement with him.”

Kyiv response and sanctions appeals

Zelensky dismissed predictions of an impending truce, stating that the Kremlin has shown no willingness to halt hostilities. The Ukrainian president stated that Vladimir Putin routinely invents pretexts to avoid trilateral negotiations between Ukraine, the United States, and Russia, while the Ukrainian presidency denied reports of White House pressure to hold talks in Moscow. Following overnight Russian drone strikes that damaged residential buildings in Kyiv's Solomyanskyi district and injured a woman, Zelensky urged Trump to enact the Lindsey Graham Act to penalize Russia and its financiers. He also requested that European Council President António Costa and European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen adopt further sanctions packages. At the UN, Vatican Secretary of State Cardinal Pietro Parolin urged an immediate ceasefire after more than four years of war.

“Peace cannot be postponed; weapons must fall silent and bombings must cease.”