Russian, German FMs to hold talks on Friday

Moscow: The Russian and German foreign ministers, Sergey Lavrov and Heiko Maas, are scheduled to hold talks in Moscow on Friday, Russian Foreign Ministry Spokeswoman Maria Zakharova said.

“The negotiations are scheduled for Friday in Moscow,” she said when asked. Lavrov told an annual news conference in Moscow earlier that the talks would focus on Ukraine and Syria. In the meantime, Maas had said earlier that he was planning to discuss the Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces Treaty (INF Treaty) and Russia’s economic reforms with his Russian counterpart.

A previous meeting of Lavrov and Maas took place on the sidelines of the OSCE Ministerial Council in Milan. Ukraine’s provocation in the Kerch Strait on November 25, 2018 and Russia-NATO relations topped their talks.