Wadephul: You have to negotiate with opponents
The German foreign minister and his Russian counterpart have their first bilateral meeting since 2022. Speaking to the UN General Assembly, Wadephul appeals for common AI security regulations.
New York (dpa/d.de) – Germany’s Foreign Minister Johann Wadephul and his Russian counterpart Sergey Lavrov have met on the sidelines of the UN General Assembly in New York. It was the first bilateral meeting at foreign minister level since Russia launched its war of aggression against Ukraine in 2022. “It was an intense conversation. Of course, we didn’t agree on key points,” Wadephul told German television station ZDF.
According to German delegation sources, Wadephul called on Russia to deescalate and stressed that incidents such as the attempted attack in Leipzig in early August and other hybrid attacks would not shake Germany’s resolve to support Ukraine. On public broadcaster ARD’s “Tagesthemen” TV news magazine, Wadephul said: “You don’t have to negotiate with friends; you do have to negotiate with opponents.” That’s why he saw the conversation as worthwhile. He said that Russia was “regrettably” showing no willingness to adopt any constructive negotiating stance.
Besides meeting with Lavrov, Wadephul also talked in New York about how to deal with artificial intelligence. Speaking to the UN General Assembly, he urged the United Nations to take more responsibility to ensure the safe and positive development of artificial intelligence.
