On Thursday, the Federal Chancellery hosted a visit from US Secretary of State Antony Blinken, who reported on his visit to Kyiv. The meeting with Federal Chancellor Olaf Scholz focused on taking stock of the numerous talks and negotiations that have been held in recent days and weeks. The Federal Government welcomes the fact that a whole range of dialogue formats are now in use – the NATO-Russia Council, the OSCE, the EU and bilateral talks. The visit of the US Secretary of State illustrates how close and intense the coordination with Germany’s partners and friends is. 

Previously, in his speech at the virtual meeting of the World Economic Forum in Davos, Federal Chancellor Scholz urgently appealed to Russia to take steps towards de-escalation and resolve existing differences on security issues by engaging in dialogue. “The Russian side is aware of our determination. I hope they are also aware that the benefits of cooperation are much higher than the price of further confrontation,” stressed Scholz.

Important talks in different formats

Blinken first met for a bilateral meeting with Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock, who had travelled to Kyiv and Moscow herself for talks at the beginning of the week. 

There was also a meeting in the morning of the so-called Quad – the foreign ministers of Germany, the USA, France and the UK – to discuss the situation at the Ukrainian-Russian border. Another topic here was the revival of the JCPoA with Iran.