Meeting between Baerbock and Lavrov burst - Moscow's diplomats react with allegations

Created: 09/24/2022, 04:56

By: Bettina Menzel, Andreas Schmid, Fabian Müller

Annalena Baerbock doesn't mince words during her visit as Foreign Minister in Moscow.

© Maxim Shemetov/dpa

The United Nations talks about the Ukraine war.

On Thursday, the foreign ministers of Ukraine and Russia exchanged blows.

All information in the news ticker.

• Russia's Foreign Minister

  Lavrov

  made

  a confused appearance:

  Russia's chief diplomat defended the war of aggression against Ukraine and left the room after his speech.

• UN general debate with Lavrov and Baerbock: The foreign ministers will meet from 4 p.m.

• Putin's

  new

  war strategy

  : Scholz sees "act of desperation".

Update from September 23, 9:48 p.m

.: A possibly planned meeting between Federal Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock (Greens) and the Russian chief diplomat Sergey Lavrov has burst: “After she asked her questions about negotiations with Sergey Lavrov on the sidelines of the UN General Assembly and from the Russian Page have received a proposal for a date, the EU delegations have disappeared from the radar,” criticized the Russian foreign ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova on her Telegram channel on Friday.

Zakharova was apparently also referring to a conversation that had been initiated between Baerbock and Lavrov.

In the run-up to the general debate in New York, there had been contacts between the local delegations.

As the dpa learned, it was about the possibility of a conversation between Baerbock and her Russian counterpart on the security of the Zaporizhia nuclear power plant.

Ukraine foreign minister before UN Security Council: Russia is only looking for military solutions

Update from September 23, 6:55 a.m.:

Moscow has no interest in peace talks and is “only looking for a military solution,” said Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba on Thursday before the UN Security Council.

He accused Russian diplomats of an “extraordinary amount of lying”.

Referring to Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov, who entered the room at the meeting on Ukraine about 90 minutes late and then left again immediately after his speech, Kuleba said: "I also noticed today that Russian diplomats are fleeing just like Russian ones Soldiers.” In his speech, Lavrov accused the West of direct interference in the war because of its arms deliveries and support for Kyiv.

US government calls for holding Vladimir Putin accountable for aggressive war

Update from September 22, 10:13 p.m .:

The US government has called for Russian President Vladimir Putin to be held accountable for the war of aggression against Ukraine.

"The international order that we are gathered here to uphold is being shredded before our eyes," US Secretary of State Antony Blinken said at a UN Security Council meeting in New York.

"We cannot and will not allow Putin to get away with this."

UN Secretary-General António Guterres called for investigations into the "catalog of cruelty" in Russia's war of aggression at the sidelines of the UN general debate.

Guterres spoke of "extrajudicial executions, sexual violence, torture and other inhuman and degrading treatment of civilians and prisoners of war," citing the UN Human Rights Commissioner.

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"All of these allegations must be carefully investigated to ensure accountability," said the UN Secretary-General.

"Perpetrators must be held accountable in fair and independent trials." France, which currently chairs the Security Council, had scheduled the session of the most powerful UN body at ministerial level.

French Foreign Minister Catherine Colonna stressed: "There is no peace without justice."

UN Assembly in New York: Baerbock is tough on Lavrov

Update from September 22, 7:20 p.m.:

Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock has asked Russian President Vladimir Putin to stop the war of aggression against Ukraine.

"This is a war that you will not win," said the Green politician on Thursday at a UN Security Council meeting in New York on the situation in Ukraine.

She did not name Putin.

At the same time, she demanded: "Stop sending even more of your own citizens to their deaths." powers the whole world".

Baerbock criticized Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov, who left the Security Council session immediately after his speech.

It is a clear sign that Lavrov spoke for quite a while but did not even mention hunger, poverty and the consequences of war around the world.

There are no queues of volunteers wanting to join the war in Ukraine on the streets of Moscow, Baerbock said.

"What we see instead are brave men, women and even children taking to the streets because they don't want to be part of this war against Ukraine," she added.

Russia's Foreign Minister Lavrov with a confused appearance at the UN assembly: "We will never accept it"

Update from September 22, 6:50 p.m.:

Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov has defended his country’s war of aggression against Ukraine and made serious allegations against Kiev.

"We have no doubt that Ukraine has become a totally totalitarian Nazi-like state, where the norms of international humanitarian law are flouted," Lavrov told a UN Security Council session in New York on Thursday.

The decision to launch a "special military operation" against Ukraine was inevitable, he claimed, in view of the war of aggression.

The country is a threat to Russia's security.

"And I can assure you that we will never accept this," Lavrov said.

He criticized that the UN body wanted to talk about punishing Russia, while Ukraine had to be punished for its actions.

Ukrainian forces used “terrorist tactics” and used peaceful civilians as human shields.

Trying to impose a “completely different narrative” about Russian aggression is a tragedy, Lavrov lamented.

This ignores the fact that Ukrainian forces have been killing residents of Donbass for more than eight years and are continuing to kill them.

After his speech to the UN Security Council, Lavrov left the room immediately.

The 72-year-old was almost 90 minutes late for the meeting of the most powerful UN body on the Ukraine war with numerous foreign ministers.

Update from September 22, 4:47 p.m

.: UN Secretary-General António Guterres sees the Russian-backed referenda in Ukraine as a possible breach of international law.

At a special session of the UN Security Council on the Ukraine war, he also stressed: "The idea of ​​a nuclear conflict, once unthinkable, has become a topic of discussion." This is not acceptable.

Meeting with Lavrov in the UN Security Council: Kuleba wants to keep "safe distance".

Update from September 22, 4:26 p.m

.: Before the UN Security Council met, Kiev’s Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba announced that he wanted to keep a “safe distance” from his counterpart Sergey Lavrov.

"I will keep a safe distance from him," Kuleba replied before the meeting began when asked by a journalist how he would behave towards Lavrov.

The answer was also an allusion to the long-recommended safety distance due to the corona pandemic.

Ukraine-News: Foreign ministers of Russia and Ukraine meet in the UN Security Council

First report from September 22

: New York – The UN Security Council meets today on the sidelines of the general debate of the United Nations.

Russia's Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov, his Ukrainian counterpart Dmytro Kuleba and Federal Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock will be there.

The Kremlin itself has dictated the agenda for the meeting over the past few days.

Putin's new war strategy: Scholz sees "act of desperation"

Partial mobilization and mock referendums.

Kremlin chief Vladimir Putin seems to want to influence the war with a kind of tactical one-two punch – including repeated threats of nuclear weapons (“I'm not bluffing”).

The overwhelming majority of the international community condemns the Ukraine war.

At the meeting in New York, Putin's new plans are also interpreted as an admission of Russian war problems.

Chancellor Olaf Scholz called the mobilization of hundreds of thousands of reservists an "act of desperation".

Other heads of state who watched the video speech of Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy made similar statements during the night.

Zelenskyj made it clear that he currently sees no point in negotiations with Russia.

“Russia is afraid of real negotiations and does not want to fulfill any fair international obligations.

It lies to everyone – as is typical for aggressors, for terrorists.” For Russia, the threat of using nuclear weapons is now “the rule, not the exception”.

After the video address, a large audience in the hall of the UN General Assembly gave standing applause.

The Russian delegates remained silent in their seats.

Baerbock and Lavrov at UN debate: are there the next Russia lies? 

Incidentally, Kremlin chief Putin will not be there in New York.

Foreign Minister Lavrov is Russia's highest representative.

From 4 p.m. German time, he will have to talk to his counterparts about the Ukraine war in particular.

On Wednesday evening, the meeting was also a topic for "Markus Lanz", where Baerbock was connected.

"How is it when you know tomorrow that you will meet Sergey Lavrov again, the Russian Foreign Minister, who you know will lie to you?" Lanz asked the Green politician.

Lavrov is considered a "notorious liar".

Baerbock explained: "If it brings peace a little bit closer, then it's a good meeting, and if it doesn't, then it's not a good meeting.

But you have to try everything that we can get a little closer to peace at this moment.” It is unclear whether the meeting is suitable as a peace talk.

In this news ticker we will keep you up to date on all important events relating to the UN general debate.