OMM Redaksiyası
German Foreign Minister Johann Wadephul has urged Russian President Vladimir Putin to demonstrate a willingness to negotiate peace with Ukraine after Putin was invited to a G20 summit in the United States.
Putin must “prove whether there is a willingness for peace and a willingness to negotiate on the Russian side,” Wadephul said during a meeting with Slovak Foreign Minister Juraj Blanar in Bratislava, according to the German Press Agency (dpa).
Wadephul was responding to a question about whether Putin’s participation in the G20 summit in Florida in December should depend on Moscow agreeing to a partial ceasefire in the Black Sea. Such a truce could help clear the way for grain exports from Ukraine, which have been disrupted by the ongoing war.
Black Sea ceasefire proposed as test
The German foreign minister said Putin’s invitation to the G20 summit would serve as a test of Russia’s readiness to negotiate.
“Of course, the best way to underscore this is by taking steps in that direction from the outset,” Wadephul said, pointing to a Black Sea ceasefire that would allow urgently needed grain exports.
He said the issue was important for grain-producing countries such as Ukraine and Russia, but even more significant for many countries in the Global South.
Warning of famine and instability
“Famine looms there, further humanitarian disasters loom there, and further destabilization of states looms there,” Wadephul said.
He warned that the consequences could include refugee flows, displacement and new armed conflicts.
Russia remains a member of the G20, which consists of 19 countries, the European Union and the African Union. Putin last attended a G20 summit in person in 2019, before Russia launched its war against Ukraine in February 2022.
