British, French and German Envoys Hold Talks in Russian Foreign Ministry

British, French and German ambassadors to Russia held talks Thursday in Russia’s foreign ministry, several days after a London summit with Ukraine’s Volodymyr Zelensky.

The UK hosted Zelensky and the leaders of France and Germany earlier this week, supporting Kyiv’s call for direct talks with Russia to end more than four years of war.

The envoys met with Russia’s deputy foreign minister Mikhail Galuzin.

“We just had a good discussion and we will release a statement later today,” France’s envoy Nicolas de Riviere told reporters outside the ministry.

Moscow, however, said the ambassadors had been told of their countries’ “destructive” policy on Ukraine, accusing them of wanting to “continue the war against Russia on behalf of and at the expense of” European countries.

Russian President Vladimir Putin this month rejected Zelensky’s offer for a face-to-face meeting to end the fighting.

In London, the UK’s Keir Starmer, France’s Emmanuel Macron and Germany’s Friedrich Merz said they supported Zelensky’s proposal and that the current frontline should be a “starting point for negotiations”.

AFP journalists saw the ambassadors leaving the towering Stalinist building of the Russian foreign ministry.

European ambassadors have rarely held talks with the Russian authorities during Moscow’s four-year war against Ukraine and have been frequently summoned by the foreign ministry.

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Several Western European countries -- including France -- have floated the idea of restarting a dialogue with Moscow to end the Ukraine war, Europe’s worst since WWII.

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Russia has preferred to talk to US President Donald Trump’s administration on the conflict, with the Kremlin not wanting European countries involved in talks on the war.

The UK, France and Germany have been some of Kyiv’s staunchest allies during Moscow’s full-scale offensive.