A brief summary of Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov’s public meeting with the representatives of the far-right "Alternative for Germany" (AfD) in Moscow today. Thread. 1/10

Lavrov: Happy to see friends from the AfD who came to Moscow at the invitation of the Russian State Duma. There are serious problems in the relations between Russia and Germany, so all channels of communication are important. 2/10

Traditionally, our Ministry keeps contacts with all significant political forces in other countries, and this includes Germany’s largest opposition force represented in the Bundestag, i.e. AfD. 3/10

We are surprised by the reactions of official Berlin that tried to prevent representatives of the AfD from going to Moscow. Likewise, we are surprised by the hysterical internal discussion about this visit driven by the German media. 4/10

Instead, we need to develop contacts between all stakeholders. For our part, we are not denouncing German authorities’ meetings with the Russian opposition. 5/10

However, we are surprised that they are meeting not with the official opposition represented in the parliament, but with the non-parliamentary opposition. German Foreign Ministry was hosting a representative of the Russian non-parliamentary opposition [Navalny]... 6/10

...known for his aggressive rhetoric against our government and president. There are many points of contention between Germany and Russia, but this is a normal thing. There are transborder threats challenging all of us, but they demand dialogue between us not confrontation. 7/10

Your visit symbolises the need for such a dialogue. Thank you for your visit and your support of the idea of a rethink and reset of the German-Russian relations. Welcome. 8/10

AfD: We are the largest opposition force in the Bundestag. We are thankful to Russia for uniting Germany, when France and Britain were against the unification. Sanctions imposed on Russia are bad. We support Nord Stream 2 because ... 9/10

...it contributes to the energy security of Germany and Europe. Even during the Cold War, Russia was a trustworthy supplier of energy to Europe. Of course, in the case of Nord Stream 2 we see the role of the US influence. We want to develop our cooperation further. 10/10