Berlin–Moscow talks and North Korean prisoners: a diplomatic week
A look back at the diplomatic developments that framed Ukraine-related politics around 28 September 2026.
What did the diplomatic picture look like on 28 September 2026? Two developments from the preceding days set the tone for Ukraine-related politics.
On 26 September, during the eighty-first session of the United Nations General Assembly, German foreign minister Johann Wadephul and Russian foreign minister Sergey Lavrov held talks. They were the first talks between Germany and Russia since the 2022 invasion of Ukraine.
Three days earlier, on 23 September, Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelenskyy said Ukraine had transferred two North Korean prisoners of war to South Korea. The two men had been captured in Kursk Oblast, Russia, in January 2025.
North Korea's role
North Korea has supported Russia in the war since 2017, when it recognised the 2014 Russian annexation of Crimea. In July 2022 it recognised the Russia-backed, self-proclaimed Donetsk and Luhansk People's Republics, and Ukraine responded by severing diplomatic ties with Pyongyang. The transfer of the two prisoners to Seoul therefore touched on South Korea–Ukraine relations as well as on North Korea's involvement in the war.
Two different channels
The two events were separate: one was a direct meeting between the top diplomats of Berlin and Moscow on the margins of the UN gathering, the other a decision by Kyiv on the fate of captured soldiers. Together, as reported at the time, they showed diplomacy around the war moving on several tracks in the final days of September 2026.
