Russia Calls in German Ambassador Over MP's Meeting with Chechen Outlaw

(MENAFN) Moscow escalated diplomatic tensions with Berlin on Monday, summoning German Ambassador Alexander Graf Lambsdorff to register a formal protest over a meeting between a senior German lawmaker and exiled Chechen separatist figure Akhmed Zakayev — a man Russia classifies as a terrorist and has sought through international channels since 2001.

The Russian Foreign Ministry said the encounter, which took place in Kyiv, was facilitated by what it called the "Zelensky regime," and constituted an unacceptable act of interference in Russia's internal affairs.

"The Ambassador was issued a decisive protest in connection with a recent meeting in Kyiv, facilitated by the Zelensky regime, between a Bundestag deputy, member of the parliamentary committee on foreign affairs from the ruling Christian Democratic Union party, Roderich Kiesewetter and Akhmed Zakayev, the leader of the terrorist organization 'Chechen Republic of Ichkeria' banned in Russia and is on an international wanted list," the ministry said in a statement.

Moscow Accuses Berlin of Backing Anti-Russian Operations
Russia went further than a routine diplomatic reprimand, alleging that Bundestag deputy Roderich Kiesewetter — a member of the ruling Christian Democratic Union party's foreign affairs committee — actively endorsed hostile activities directed at Moscow during the encounter.

According to the Foreign Ministry, Kiesewetter "welcomed the anti-Russian activities" of operatives linked to Zakayev's organization, including individuals said to have participated in Ukraine's cross-border incursions into Russia's Belgorod and Kursk regions.

The ministry further alleged that Kiesewetter pressed Zakayev and his network to deepen coordination with Berlin — specifically to recruit Russian émigrés residing in Germany for operations intended to destabilize Russia's internal political landscape.

"Moscow regards this meeting between a German parliament deputy and notorious criminals as indisputable proof of the German authorities' intent to interfere in the internal affairs of Russia and create threats to Russia's national security, including through interaction with terrorist structures under the auspices of the Kyiv criminal regime," the ministry said.

Berlin was put on notice that Moscow would not absorb such actions without consequence. "Hostile steps against Russia will inevitably receive an appropriate rebuff," the statement read.

Who Is Akhmed Zakayev?
Born in Kazakhstan in 1959 — where generations of Chechens had been forcibly resettled under Soviet rule — Zakayev trained as a stage actor and built an early career in theater in the Chechen capital, Grozny.

He later emerged as a prominent battlefield commander during the First Chechen War (1994–1996), attaining the rank of brigadier. As the conflict hardened into a defining post-Soviet crisis, Zakayev became one of the most recognizable faces of the Chechen separatist movement.

Russia placed him on its international wanted list in 2001, pursuing charges of armed rebellion, murder, and kidnapping. Despite extradition attempts, Zakayev was granted political asylum by the UK in 2003 and has remained in London ever since — continuing to lead the Chechen Republic of Ichkeria government-in-exile, an organization formally banned on Russian territory.

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