Overview
- Alexander Graf Lambsdorff left his post in Moscow this week and has been reassigned to serve as Germany’s ambassador to Israel while Clemens von Goetze is named to replace him in Moscow.
- In a departing interview he said he sees no sign that Vladimir Putin is willing to negotiate an end to the war in Ukraine and voiced concern that a second, larger mobilization of military-age men could follow the Duma election in September.
- Shortly before his departure Lambsdorff was summoned to the Russian foreign ministry and received a protest note accusing Germany of backing Ukrainian strikes, a charge Berlin called baseless.
- He described growing political repression in Russia, citing recent harsh sentences for dissidents and stepped-up blocks on Western information and social platforms that limit Russians’ access to outside news.
- Diplomatic relations have narrowed during his three-year posting with restricted access to Russian decision-makers and public slights such as a reported refusal by the Kremlin spokeswoman to shake his hand, a development that raises the risk of fewer direct channels to manage tensions.