It’s Tuesday, Jan. 18. Sergey Viktorovich Lavrov, 71, Russia’s foreign minister for nearly 18 years, is sitting at a table inside the government guest house in Moscow. Sitting across from him is Annalena Charlotte Alma Baerbock, Germany’s foreign minister, who is 30 years younger than her Russian host and has been in office for just 42 days.
They have just finished a round of talks between their delegations and Lavrov has invited Baerbock to lunch. The appetizer is followed by what always follows in Moscow: vodka.