Moscow is ready to continue the dialogue with Washington, with facts on hand, in order to save the Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces Treaty. The termination of the treaty can have grave consequences, as stated by Foreign Minister of Russia Sergey Lavrov after his meeting with the German Foreign Minister.
Yelizaveta Khramtsova has been following the meeting. She's with us live.
- Greetings, Yelizaveta. What other matters were on the agenda and on which matters did the diplomats manage to agree?
- Good afternoon. For Heiko Maas, the meeting with Sergey Lavrov was the first event of his long working day. This afternoon, he's expected in Kiev, where Heiko Maas will meet his Ukrainian counterpart, Pavel Klimkin. That's the reason Ukraine was one of the key subjects discussed in today's meeting of the two diplomats. They also discussed the Minsk Agreements not working properly, the situation in Donbas, the upcoming presidential elections in Ukraine, as well as the Kerch Strait incident.
Speaking of that Ukrainian provocation, Heiko Maas said that currently, there are no visible barriers preventing the ships from crossing the Kerch Strait. He also reminded of Angela Merkel's proposal that she shared with Vladimir Putin back in December at the G20 summit in Argentina. Back then, the German Chancellor proposed that the German experts should come and check if ships had any troubles crossing the Kerch Strait. Vladimir Putin agreed to her proposal. After that, Angela Merkel suggested that the French should join her team. This idea was also approved by the Russian leader. Today, Berlin's third proposal was voiced during the meeting suggesting to draft a document that would moderate the procedures necessary to cross the Kerch Strait.
Sergey Lavrov, Foreign Minister of Russia: "If our colleagues are interested in what President Putin promised to Chancellor Merkel, that can be done today, tomorrow, or at any other moment. If their idea is to make a political procedure out of it, in which the Ukrainian side will take part in the decision-making process, then we risk repeating the situation with the Normandy Format and the Steinmeier formula".
Despite certain difficulties, the cooperation of Moscow and Berlin in various fields is increasing. That includes foreign affairs. Soon, our missions will have to work closely in the UN Security Council where Germany is not yet considered a permanent member. Besides, commodity turnover is growing as well. Today, the sides managed to agree on the economic issues including the Nord Stream 2 project. Berlin still considers that project vital for the European energy security and calls it "exclusively commercial."
Apart from that, the sides also agreed that they should do everything they can to preserve the INF Treaty. Heiko Maas called the document the cornerstone of European security. The diplomats also discussed Washington's claims against Moscow. Last Tuesday, January 15th, the Russian-American negotiations on this crucial issue were basically disrupted. The US gave Russia an ultimatum. Moscow is supposed to get rid of the 9M729 missiles that allegedly violate the treaty. Despite the fact that Berlin is willing to preserve the INF Treaty, it still supports Washington when it comes to the 9M729 missiles.
Heiko Maas, Foreign Minister of Germany: "It's not a secret that we believe that there are missiles that violate the INF Treaty. We must use the remaining days until February 2 to verify if those missiles actually exist. There's still time to negotiate. But the INF Treaty is not enough. There are so many new systems today, autonomous weapon systems and cyberspace weapons, that we need a treaty that would expand the framework of the INF Treaty and regulate the new technological capacities".
It's worth mentioning that after the final press conference, the diplomats proceeded to begin the second phase of the meeting to discuss the Syrian peace process. It's important to discuss that matter on the eve of the Moscow visit of the new UN Special Envoy Pedersen. He will arrive on January 21 to introduce his vision of the Syrian peace process. It's worth noting, that the Norwegian diplomat has recently visited Damascus. Next Monday, he will share his vision of the way to overcome the Syrian crisis with the Russian side.
- Thank you, Yelizaveta. Yelizaveta Khramtsova told us about the meeting of Sergey Lavrov and his German counterpart Heiko Maas.
