Published: 12:33, April 28, 2026
Russia summons German ambassador over lawmaker's meeting with terrorist leader
By Xinhua
Cars drive along the Moskvoretskaya embankment of the Moskva River, backdropped by the Kremlin, during sunset in Moscow, Russia, April 21, 2026. (PHOTO / AP)

MOSCOW - The Russian Foreign Ministry summoned German Ambassador to Russia Alexander Lambsdorff on Monday over a recent meeting in Kyiv between a German lawmaker and the leader of a terrorist organization.

Lambsdorff was summoned to the Foreign Ministry on Monday morning, and a resolute protest was lodged with the ambassador over the meeting held in Kyiv with the assistance of the Ukrainian government, said the ministry.

Roderich Kiesewetter, a member of the German Bundestag and the parliamentary Committee on Foreign Affairs representing the ruling Christian Democratic Union party, met with Akhmad Zakayev, head of the Chechen Republic of Ichkeria, a terrorist organization banned in Russia and listed on the international wanted list.

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In the statement, the ministry said that the German lawmaker welcomed anti-Russian activities carried out by terrorists and called on them to expand cooperation with Germany. Such cooperation includes recruiting Russian migrants residing in Germany to conduct acts aimed at destabilizing Russia's sociopolitical situation.

Moscow regards the meeting "between a German lawmaker and a notorious criminal" as irrefutable evidence that the German authorities are seeking to interfere in Russia's internal affairs and pose clear threats to Russia's national security, according to the ministry.