Russian, German top diplomats meet in Helsinki

Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov has met with his German counterpart Heiko Maas on the sidelines of a meeting of the Council of Europe’s Committee of Ministers in the Finnish capital of Helsinki on Friday.

The meeting between the top Russian and German diplomats took place behind closed doors, TASS reported.

The Foreign Ministry in Berlin said earlier that the parties would discuss bilateral relations, the situation in the Middle East, the Ukrainian issue and Russia’s Council of Europe membership.

The Russian foreign minister is also scheduled to meet with Secretary General of the Council of Europe Thorbjorn Jagland and Belgian top diplomat Didier Reynders later on Friday.