A diplomatic incident erupted ahead of the arrival of Russian President Vladimir Putin after envoys of the United Kingdom, France and Germany jointly authored an article for a daily newspaper on Monday (December 1, 2025) that blamed Russia for the war in Ukraine and accused Mr. Putin of “total disregard for human life”. Officials of the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) described the article by the three envoys as “unacceptable and unusual”.
Talking about the article authored by U.K.’s High Commissioner Lindy Cameron, French ambassador Thierry Mathou and German ambassador Philipp Ackermann, a senior official of the MEA said, “This is very unusual. It is not an acceptable diplomatic practice to give public advice on third country relations. We have taken note of it.”
White House says ‘very optimistic’ on chances of Ukraine deal
The article, titled ‘World wants the Ukraine war to end, but Russia doesn’t seem serious about peace’, accused Russia of launching the war on Ukraine and said the attacks by Russia are “a systematic choice by Russia to wage its war of aggression with absolute ruthlessness”.
The three envoys accused Russia of conducting “malign global activity” through “cyberattacks and disinformation” that show “Russian leadership’s appetite for territorial expansion and global destabilisation goes well beyond Ukraine”. The article further targeted Russian President Putin and said, he “stalls and delays” “serious peace talks”.
