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Two weeks of diplomacy: Germany, Russia and Korean prisoners
Summary
A look back at two diplomatic developments reported in the days before 29 September 2026, involving Berlin, Moscow, Kyiv and Seoul.
What had changed in the diplomacy around the war in Ukraine by 29 September 2026? Two developments reported in the preceding days gave the answer: a German–Russian meeting at the United Nations, and a disclosure from Kyiv about prisoners of war handed to South Korea.
Berlin and Moscow talk
On 26 September 2026, during the eighty-first session of the United Nations General Assembly, German foreign minister Johann Wadephul and Russian foreign minister Sergey Lavrov held talks. These were the first talks between Germany and Russia since the 2022 invasion of Ukraine.
Prisoners transferred to Seoul
Three days earlier, on 23 September 2026, Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelenskyy said that Ukraine had transferred two North Korean prisoners of war to South Korea. The two had been captured in Kursk Oblast, Russia, in January 2025.
The transfer touched on North Korea's role in the war. As background, North Korea has backed Russia since 2017, when it recognised the 2014 Russian annexation of Crimea. In July 2022 it recognised the self-proclaimed Donetsk and Luhansk People's Republics, and Ukraine responded by severing diplomatic ties with Pyongyang.
Two threads, one picture
The two events were separate, and the reports did not link them. Together they showed contacts being made on several fronts: a direct ministerial meeting between Berlin and Moscow on the UN sidelines, and a handover that connected Kyiv and Seoul over captured soldiers from a third country.
The fate of prisoners has been a recurring concern in the war. Both Ukrainian and Russian or separatist prisoners of war have suffered abuse, including mistreatment, torture and execution.
