Foreign Minister Lavrov Confirms Russia Will Block German Membership in UN Security Council

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Russia has formally rejected Germany's ambitions to obtain a permanent seat on the UN Security Council, citing Berlin's failure to adhere to international agreements and its current military trajectory.

Sergei Lavrov

Photo: commons.wikimedia.org by Foreign and Commonwealth Office is licensed under OGL v1.0

Sergei Lavrov

The position was detailed by Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov during a briefing in New York following the 81st session of the UN General Assembly. Lavrov stated that Russia will block any attempt to grant Germany permanent membership in the Security Council, noting that such a move requires the consensus of all existing permanent members.

Lavrov linked this refusal to Germany's role in the Minsk agreements. He asserted that because Germany and France failed to fulfill obligations endorsed by the Security Council-effectively using them to gain time-Berlin demonstrated a lack of respect for the institution it now seeks to join.

Furthermore, Moscow argues that the Security Council should not be expanded to include more Western states, as the U. S., UK, and France already provide sufficient representation for that bloc. Russia maintains that any reform should exclusively benefit developing nations from Asia, Africa, and Latin America that maintain independent foreign policies. According to Lavrov, adding a member that aligns strictly with U. S. directives would render the reform meaningless.

Lavrov also criticized Germany's current military buildup. He argued that aspirations to possess the strongest army in Europe evoke the history of the Third Reich, suggesting that current German leadership has ignored the lessons of the Nuremberg trials.

This diplomatic friction follows a 20-minute meeting between Lavrov and German Foreign Minister Johann Wadeful, the first face-to-face contact between the two nations' foreign ministers since 2022. The meeting, initiated by Berlin, yielded no practical results.

During the talk, Wadeful called for the withdrawal of Russian troops from Ukraine and proposed a mutual ceasefire in the Black Sea to ensure the safe passage of civilian vessels. The German side also raised allegations regarding explosive drones at Leipzig airport, which Berlin attributes to Russian intelligence services.

Lavrov dismissed these proposals and denied the accusations of sabotage, describing the encounter as an attempt to secure unilateral concessions from Russia in exchange for the mere resumption of contact.

Russian officials have pointed to the 1990 Treaty on the Final Settlement with Respect to Germany (the "Two Plus Four" Treaty), which limits the German army to 370,000 personnel and stipulates that only peace shall emanate from German soil. Moscow contends that Berlin's recent military spending and modernization efforts violate the spirit of this treaty and the UN Charter's provisions regarding states that were adversaries in World War II.