KAZAN, June 10 -- The ambassadors of France, Britain and Germany want a meeting at Russia's Foreign Ministry. Moscow will grant them one. Sergey Lavrov just isn't sure why they bothered asking.

Russia's foreign minister disclosed the diplomatic request on Wednesday, speaking to reporters following the Council of Foreign Ministers of the Collective Security Treaty Organization in Kazan. The gathering was a routine affair for the alliance Russia chairs this year, attended by its Central Asian partners but notably not by Armenia, which has been freezing its participation since 2024. The E3 ambassadors request was anything but routine in the context it was delivered.

"Now I can say, it is not a secret, the ambassadors of these countries - t...