
First conversation at this level since the beginning of the Russian war of aggression on Ukraine
AI-generated summary
Since the start of the Russian war of aggression on Ukraine in 2022, there have been no direct talks at foreign minister level between Germany and Russia.
The German side had requested the meeting, the Tass news agency quoted Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova as saying. There has so far been no information from the German side as to whose initiative the meeting took place.
It is the first conversation at this level since the start of the Russian war of aggression on Ukraine in 2022. Since then, German and Russian government representatives have been represented together at various international meetings, but there have been no direct discussions at foreign minister level.
The meeting in New York comes against the backdrop of ongoing efforts to end the war in Ukraine. Wadephul and Lavrov are in the US metropolis for the general debate at the United Nations. It was initially not known what specific topics the two foreign ministers discussed.
Before the exploratory talks for a Berlin coalition of the Left, the Greens and the SPD, the Green Party leader Franziska Brantner sets conditions. She criticizes the left's contacts with extremist groups and calls for a clear commitment to Israel's right to exist.

US President Donald Trump has rejected an Iranian proposal to open the Strait of Hormuz. Tehran had previously put forward a seven-day plan to end the blockade through Qatar, which called for the US naval blockade on Iran to be lifted.
The CDU local association Mühlenbecker Land has sent an incendiary letter to party leader Friedrich Merz. The signatories are calling for a course correction, less bureaucracy and greater involvement of the party base after the CDU's significant election losses.

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Munich is applying as a candidate for the Olympic Games from 2036. The city must now push forward infrastructure projects such as the Olympic Village and the S-Bahn expansion. The project also strengthens political cooperation between Mayor Dominik Krause and Markus Söder.