Os embaixadores da França, do Reino Unido e da Alemanha – Nicolas de Riviere, Nigel Casey e Alexander Lambsdorff, respetivamente – estiveram no Ministério das Relações Exteriores da Rússia para uma reunião com um vice-ministro Mikhail Galuzin, segundo avança a agência russa TASS. Os enviados europeus entraram no Ministério sem fazer qualquer comentário à imprensa.

O ministro das Relações Exteriores da Rússia, Sergey Lavrov, afirmou esta quarta-feira que os embaixadores do Reino Unido, da França e da Alemanha – o chamado grupo E3 – tinham proposto uma reunião para discutir o conflito na Ucrânia. Lavrov também havia declarado, em março de 2024, que o Ministério das Relações Exteriores da Rússia havia convocado os enviados de todos os países da União Europeia devido à participação destes na criação de um mecanismo para interferir nas eleições presidenciais russas, recorda a TASS. No entanto, os diplomatas da UE se recusaram a comparecer dois dias antes da reunião. A porta-voz do Ministério das Relações Exteriores da Rússia, Maria Zakharova, classificou a atitude como uma perda de prestígio para os diplomatas profissionais.

Em meio às crescentes tensões diplomáticas sobre a Ucrânia, a Rússia atendeu assim a um pedido dos embaixadores do E3 para se reunirem no Ministério das Relações Exteriores em Moscovo, embora Lavrov tenha minimizado a importância do encontro, classificando-o como um exercício de sondagem em vez de uma reabertura do diálogo. Um comunicado do Ministério confirmava o encontro, mas não fornecia mais detalhes.

Os líderes do E3, uma das principais fontes de apoio internacional à Ucrânia, reuniram-se com o presidente ucraniano Volodymyr Zelensky em Londres no último domingo, onde declararam apoiar o seu apelo a um cessar-fogo.

Na reunião em Downing Street, os quatro presentes concordaram que a atual linha de contacto entre as forças russas e ucranianas deveria ser o ponto de partida para as negociações.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy is willing to stop the war along the current line of contact and move to negotiations, he said in a Sky News interview. He presented the idea as the quickest route to a ceasefire, while rejecting any deal that hands Russia Ukrainian land. He also urged allies to close Ukraine's air defense gaps.

"The quickest way" to stop the fighting

Asked where he would freeze the lines if Russia agreed to a ceasefire, Zelenskyy said he is ready to accept today's positions. 

"Yes, it's the quickest way," he said. 

He insisted this is not a giveaway. He does not want to simply freeze the conflict, but to stop the war so it cannot restart "because of some crazy people." A freeze would let Ukraine save children's lives and bring soldiers home. Any ceasefire must be total and free of Russian games, watched by American and European partners. Only then would the sides sit down to end the war through diplomacy. A ceasefire, he added, is "the biggest compromise from our side."

Air defense comes first

The most urgent need from allies is air defense, Zelenskyy said. Ukraine faces a large deficit in anti-ballistic missiles, with US transfers slowed by the war in the Middle East. He again asked for more Patriot systems. Russia attacks daily, usually with around 300 long-range explosive drones. On the heaviest nights it launches 600 to 850 drones and dozens of missiles. 

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Ukraine's own arsenal

Ukraine has built more than 400 defense companies since the full-scale invasion, Zelenskyy said. Dozens rank among the world's strongest. They produce drones and missiles, some underground, and the country is close to its own ballistic missile. Ukraine can now share that expertise with allies and even build air defenses for Europe, he said. Kyiv aims to mass-produce drones on a scale few countries can match.

Bringing the war back to Russia

Ukraine's recent strikes on St. Petersburg and the Moscow region answer Russian attacks on Ukrainian energy, Zelenskyy said. St. Petersburg was hit twice last week. He wants Russians far from the front to feel the war they started. Russian President Vladimir Putin understands only "total pressure," he said. Sanctions on Russia's shadow fleet of sanctions-dodging tankers and its oil and gas exports hit hardest.

Putin, the letter, and a Kremlin go-between

Zelenskyy said Putin does not want to stop the war and is signaling he wants to win. Whether the fighting ends "100% depends on his decision," he said. His 4 June open letter, which Moscow called rude and rejected, was meant to force an answer and pierce a Russian public living in "some fantastic world." Russian businessman Roman Abramovich came to Kyiv to carry messages to Putin, Zelenskyy said. 

His key message was on the Donbas: Ukraine will not leave its land, and compromises come only after a ceasefire. He is ready to meet in any format, but not in Moscow, Belarus, or Minsk. Leaders cannot decide "without us about us," he said, in a message aimed at Washington. Russia, by contrast, keeps insisting that Ukraine surrender all of the Donbas first.

Britain, France, and Germany backed Ukraine's terms for ending the war after meeting its President Volodymyr Zelenskyy in London, according to their joint statement. They endorsed Kyiv's push for direct talks with Moscow and an immediate ceasefire, while spelling out what a lasting peace would require. The leaders also called for tightening the squeeze on Russia's war economy and scaling up Ukraine's air defenses.

Five conditions for peace

Meeting on 7 June, UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer, French President Emmanuel Macron, and German Chancellor Friedrich Merz set out five conditions for a just and lasting peace. The E3, as the three are known, are Ukraine's leading European backers. Their terms:

• An immediate, complete ceasefire, which they urged Putin to accept.
• The current front line as the starting point for talks, with no borders changed by force and Ukraine free to choose its alliances.
• Robust, legally binding security guarantees once a ceasefire holds, building on the allies' December 2025 Berlin and January 2026 Paris commitments, including a multinational force in Ukraine. 
• Russian assets remain immobilized until Moscow ends its aggression and compensates Ukraine.
• European interests safeguarded, with any EU- or NATO-related terms requiring both blocs' consent.

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Backing for direct talks with Moscow

The leaders commended Ukraine's president for his 4 June letter to Putin calling to end the war. They backed direct Ukraine-Russia dialogue, with the US and Europe actively taking part, to secure a ceasefire. Europe must play a role in any settlement, they said, working closely with Kyiv, the rest of Europe, and Washington.

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Pressure on Russia and more air defense

They denounced Russia's barrage of missiles and drones, including repeated strikes with the Oreshnik, a Russian missile. They also condemned dangerous Russian drone incursions into NATO territory and offered condolences to the victims. The leaders welcomed Ukraine's recent battlefield gains, from liberated territory to advances in drone warfare. They agreed to coordinate more support at the coming G7 summit in Evian, the next Coalition of the Willing meeting, and the NATO summit in Ankara. That includes choking off more of Russia's wartime revenue and a bigger military pledge at the NATO talks. They also urged scaling up interceptor production and co-developing anti-ballistic and deep-strike weapons.