The ambassadors of France, Germany and the UK have requested a meeting with Russia’s foreign ministry following an E3 London summit at which the three European leaders issued a five-point list of demands aimed at persuading Moscow to begin ceasefire negotiations over the war in Ukraine.

Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said the envoys had asked to meet one of his deputies and that Russia would grant the request despite his sharp criticism of recent statements by European leaders.

“The ambassadors of Britain, France and Germany have requested a meeting with one of my deputies at the Russian Foreign Ministry, and we will meet them,” Lavrov said. “We will listen to them.”

The request comes after talks involving UK Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer, French President Emmanuel Macron and German Chancellor Friedrich Merz, who have stepped up diplomatic coordination on Ukraine after the Trump administration said it was no longer engaged in the peace talks.

No negotiations on Ukraine are currently underway as Kyiv has demonstrated its inability to negotiate, Russia’s permanent representative to the UN Vasily Nebenzya earlier this week.

"As far as I know, no negotiation process is currently underway, trilateral talks are not being conducted," the Russian diplomat told Vesti in an interview.

"Kyiv is not ready to make any compromises, and war is a good source of income for them, especially for the leadership, and primarily for [Vladimir] Zelenskiy," he explained in remarks confirmed by presidential spokesman Dmitry Peskov.

The five-point plan leads with a call for an unconditional ceasefire before any negotiations can begin, a demand Zelenskiy made in his counteroffer to US President Donald Trump’s so-called final offer at a London summit last April. The Kremlin rejected that demand out of hand. Among the other demands on the five-point list is plans for an international “deterrence force” of Nato troops to be stationed in Ukraine post-war – another demand that the Kremlin has rejected out of hand.

Following the E3 summit, Lavrov said that in addition to the five-point plan, the leaders had agreed to supply Ukraine with long-range missiles that can strike deep into Russia’s territory and added as a result there is no basis for any talks with the EU.

Lavrov said he was “simply curious” about how the ambassadors would present proposals capable of leading to “constructive thoughts”, given what he described as hostile rhetoric from the three leaders.

According to Lavrov, Macron, Starmer and Merz had said “completely insulting things” about Russia and had repeatedly made personal attacks.

Following the Victory Day celebrations on May 9, Russian President Vladimir Putin said that he was open to talks with Europe, but only with interlocutors that have not said “insulting things about us.”

The Russian foreign minister reserved particular criticism for Merz, citing remarks in which the German chancellor drew parallels with the lessons of European history and the need to confront Russian aggression.

Lavrov said Merz had recently declared: “We must suppress Russia, otherwise we will get a repeat of the appeasement of Hitler.”

“What can the envoy of such a chancellor possibly say?” Lavrov asked.

The EU has been searching for a candidate to lead mooted talks without success. Putin suggested that ex-Chancellor Gerhard Schroeder would be a suitable candidate, but the EU has ruled him out as a long-standing friend of Russia’s. Several other names have been suggested, but no consensus on a candidate has been forthcoming so far.

Much progress was made at the start of this year following the 27-point peace plan (27PPP) thrashed out at the Moscow meeting on December 3 between Putin and the US special envoys, Special Envoy Steve Witkoff and Trump’s son-in-law Jared Kushner. Following that meeting, Putin said the deal was “almost done”, but that work has since been abandoned by the E3 leaders.

European governments have argued that Russia must demonstrate a willingness to engage in meaningful negotiations, while Moscow has accused Western leaders of escalating tensions and undermining prospects for dialogue.

The planned meeting between the ambassadors and Russia’s foreign ministry would mark a rare direct diplomatic engagement at a time when contacts between Moscow and key European governments remain limited. Lavrov said: “We will meet them.”

Separately, a fresh row has broken out over the potential EU-Kremlin talks. Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk demanded that Poland must take part in any international negotiations on ending the Ukraine conflict and the format of the meetings should be expanded to E5 – to include both Poland and Italy in any negotiations.

Tusk said Warsaw is wary of proposals for a rapid opening of dialogue with Putin and he criticised the E3 format of Britain, France and Germany, insisting that it excludes other European backers of Ukraine.

According to Tusk, decisions taken without Poland’s participation won't be binding on Warsaw and added that he had discussed the issue with Italian PM Giorgia Meloni, who also wants to participate. The row highlights the growing disunity in the EU over the Russian talks issue that has left Ukraine increasingly isolated despite the aggressive rhetoric.

Last week Zelenskiy sent Putin an open letter, proposing to meet in person to discuss a ceasefire, which Putin rejected calling the tone of the letter “rude.” Zelenskiy said several countries are ready to host this meeting, in particular Switzerland, Turkey, and several Arab countries.

Putin said that he currently sees no point in holding a personal meeting with Zelenskiy. At the same time, he added that he does not refuse possible contact with the Ukrainian side but believes that meetings make sense only in the case of "long-term agreements," and not a short-term cessation of hostilities. Following last year’s London summit, the Kremlin took the same line:  it rejects a short-term ceasefire and prefers to negotiate a more difficult long-term peace deal while the war remains active. The Kremlin’s basic demand remains unchanged: no halt to the hostilities can be agreed until Bankova agrees to give up control of the whole of the Donbas region.