Heiko Maas tries a friendly speech: "Dear Sergei", he calls his Russian colleague Lavrov, as the two have taken in the press room of the guest house of the Russian Foreign Ministry. But Lavrov does not even look up, he's busy with his papers.
Maas has come to Moscow to talk with the Russian Foreign Minister about the INF treaty banning intermediate-range nuclear forces (NFCs). It is a last attempt to preserve the agreement that "touched Europe's security interests in a fundamental way," as Maas puts it. He adds, "We believe that Russia can save the treaty." Moscow can do this by demonstrably "disarming" its "breach of contract" cruise missiles. Lavrov is unperturbed by Maas's words.
standstill
As the two foreign ministers sit side by side, barely a glance for the other - that says a lot about the state of German-Russian relations. There is a standstill, not only in the INF agreement, but also in the Ukraine conflict.
Maas proposes to Lavrov to send German and French observers to the Kerch strait on the Ukrainian peninsula of Crimea annexed by Russia. They should "document" the free passage of the ships. Lavrov sees the proposal critically because he is again packed with a "political process," as he calls it, the vote with the Ukrainian government. And anyway, there was always a free passage for merchant ships, claims the Russian diplomat. However, that's not true, Ukrainian ships often could not pass the strait for days.
Maas, who also meets his Ukrainian counterpart in the evening, at least tried, one might say benevolently. Much more could not have been expected. His journey serves more as proof of employment. He should demonstrate that the Germans leave no stone unturned - especially in the INF Treaty.
Like a teacher
Because the clock is ticking, in 16 days the US deadline expires. Until then, Russia should give its commitment to destroy its medium-range missiles type 9M729 (NATO code: SSC-8). In the opinion of the USA, but also of the NATO countries, these violate the INF agreement. In 1987, the Soviet Union and the US had reached this agreement. It commits both sides to the abolition of all land-based ballistic missiles and cruise missiles with ranges between 500 and 5500 kilometers. At the same time, he also prohibits the production and testing of such systems.
DPA
Sergey Lavrov
But with one like Lavrov, Maas has no chance with appeals. The Russian chief diplomat, in office since 2004, does what he likes to do at press conferences on Friday. Like a teacher before a student, he tells ministers for minutes that the US is not interested in facts. Thus, the tests of the missiles had taken place within the framework of the 500-kilometer range limit stipulated in the INF Treaty.
Russia considers the treaty very transparent, said the Foreign Minister: "Nevertheless, we are very roughly rejected and receive an ultimatum." Moscow also suggested that American experts could inspect and control the weapons. This, too, had been rejected by the Americans at a meeting in Geneva. Russia is doing everything it can to save the deal - that's what Moscow is trying to do.
Whose fault is it?
That does not want to leave Maas so. He speaks after Lawrow's submissions several times to word to complement them, that is: to correct. The Russians had informed over five years only piece by piece about their missile system. This did not confirm the belief that Moscow respects the INF Treaty.
Both sides should have been clear even before Maas' visit that the INF treaty is hardly to save. Ever since Trump's security adviser John Bolton's visit to Moscow in October, they have been convinced that there is no chance of holding the agreement. This had made it very clear at that time that Washington has no interest in the contract. Not only because of the violations by Russia, but also because countries like North Korea or China are not bound by their missiles to the specifications of the agreement. The paper simply no longer reflects the security policy reality.
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That's why it's no longer about the agreement, but about who is ultimately to blame for its failure: US President Donald Trump, who has announced that he will terminate the contract? Or Russia, which, according to NATO, has been violating him for years?
Maas tries it with a push. He announces a conference in Berlin in March with the aim of building a worldwide comprehensive arms control architecture in the long term. He knew that it was "thick boards to drill" applies. Lavrov welcomes the initiative. However, he does not explicitly agree with Russia's participation in the conference.