Sergey Lavrov says Russia remains "ready to return to it" on Ukraine deal framework

At United Nations headquarters in New York on Saturday, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov and German Foreign Minister Johann Wadephul met briefly — the first such encounter between the two countries since Moscow's 2022 military campaign in Ukraine began. Lavrov said Germany requested the meeting at the last minute on Friday, and the two spoke before his General Assembly address. Lavrov told reporters the German move produced no new development and that Wadephul restated Berlin's previously stated stance. In his speech, Lavrov said Moscow views a deal to end the fighting between Russia and Ukraine as having been reached at an August 2025 Alaska meeting between Vladimir Putin and Donald Trump, and he indicated Moscow remained open to taking up that framework again.