Ambassadors from Britain, France, and Germany held talks at Russia’s Foreign Ministry on Thursday, following a summit in London earlier this week with Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelensky, according to Arab News.
Britain hosted Zelensky as well as the leaders of France and Germany earlier this week, backing Kyiv’s push for direct negotiations with Russia to end more than four years of war.
The ambassadors held talks with Russia’s Deputy Foreign Minister Mikhail Galuzin.
France’s envoy Nicolas de Rivière told reporters outside the ministry that the talks had been “a good discussion,” adding that a statement would be issued later in the day.
Meanwhile, Moscow said the envoys were informed that their governments’ policy on Ukraine was “destructive,” accusing them of seeking to “continue the war against Russia on behalf of and at the expense of” European states.
Moreover, Russian President Vladimir Putin this month dismissed an offer from Zelensky for a face-to-face meeting to end the conflict.
UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer, French President Emmanuel Macron and German Chancellor Friedrich Merz voiced support for Zelensky’s proposal in London.
European ambassadors have rarely held talks with Russian officials during Moscow’s four-year war in Ukraine and have frequently been summoned by the Foreign Ministry.
Multiple Western European countries, including France, have supported the idea of resuming dialogue with Moscow in an attempt to put an end the war in Ukraine, Europe’s most severe conflict since World War II.
However, Russia has preferred to address the conflict with US President Donald Trump’s administration, with the Kremlin opposing European involvement in talks.
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