The Foreign Ministries of Germany and France considered it a violation of diplomatic practice to publish Lavrov's correspondence 
Le Drian with Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov. This was reported by RIA Novosti with reference to statements by representatives of departments.
We have taken note of the decision of Foreign Minister Lavrov to make these confidential discussions public. We regard this step as a violation of diplomatic practice
German Foreign Ministry
A similar statement was made by a representative of the French Foreign Ministry. He stressed that this approach is contrary to diplomatic rules and practice, adding that Lavrov's decision was taken into account.
Acting German Chancellor Angela Merkel said she was not surprised by the publication of the correspondence with the Russian Foreign Ministry. She added that she reads many of her letters to the newspaper, and in this sense there is nothing to hide.
How it all began
On November 17, the Russian Foreign Ministry published the correspondence of the head of the ministry, Sergei Lavrov, with colleagues from France and Germany, in order to avoid distortions of Moscow's position regarding the meeting of diplomats in the “Normandy format” and “to prevent further speculation” on this topic. The official representative of the department Maria Zakharova said that the publication of the correspondence is proof that the Russian side is not sabotaging the negotiations on Donbass in the “Normandy format”.
It is known that the correspondence was published after the Foreign Ministers of France and Germany Jean-Yves Le Drian and Heiko Maas expressed regret over Russia's “refusal” from the “Normandy format” to resolve the situation with Ukraine.
Comments of the Russian Foreign Ministry
Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov commented on the decision to publish diplomatic correspondence with the foreign ministers of Germany and France on organizing negotiations in the “Normandy format.” It’s probably not very decent for my colleagues themselves to behave this way, when every day during the last two weeks, when their initiative to meet at the level of foreign ministers was discussed, they made arrogant, not very ethical statements: everyone is ready, Putin instructed, and Lavrov does not want to. It was like this
Sergey Lavrov Russian Foreign MinisterMaterials on the topic00: 01 – October 8 
He stressed that the published correspondence clearly reflects the essence of the sabotage that the Ukrainian regime is consistently carrying out in relation to the Minsk agreements. According to the minister, Kiev does not want to execute “Minsk”, hoping to rewrite it.
Lavrov added that the meeting in the Normandy format will take place only when Ukraine fulfills the provisions of the Minsk agreements, namely, recognizes the special status of Donbass and enshrines it in the constitution, as well as unconditional amnesties and holding elections in accordance with all the rules based on OSCE principles.
The official representative of the Russian Ministry of Foreign Affairs Maria Zakharova commented on the statement of the representative of the German Foreign Ministry that France and Germany made several specific proposals for a meeting in the Normandy format, which Moscow allegedly rejected.
She called on partners to clarify and make certain statements, from which proposals Russia refused, “to announce the entire list.”
The German Foreign Ministry on Thursday, November 18, said that for several months Germany and France had been working on the implementation of a specific peace agenda based on the Minsk agreements. In Berlin, it was explained that the European partners submitted several ideas for a meeting in the Normandy format in October. At the same time, the diplomats clarified that Russia allegedly refused to accept the initiatives.
Opinions on the publication
Fyodor Lukyanov, Research Director of the Foundation for the Development and Support of the Valdai International Discussion Club, noted that the publication of Lavrov's correspondence with Le Drian and Maas is an atypical practice, but it is intended to deflect unfounded claims to Russian diplomacy.
This is atypical. practice. I think this is due to the fact that there is a large wave of reproaches that form the image of Russia as a country that wants nothing and rejects everything. Apparently, to avoid this, the original source is published. I don't know if this will work. Probably not
Fyodor LukyanovDirector for Research of the Foundation for Development and Support of the Valdai International Discussion Club with relations with France and Germany.
Professor of the Diplomatic Academy Alexander Vavilov in an interview with Sputnik radio expressed confidence that Paris and Berlin should react calmly, since it is necessary to put all the dots on the i.
And here the position of the Russian Foreign Ministry is clear. Why – because the most important discrepancy is that we say: before organizing a meeting in the “Normandy format”, you need to agree on what to talk about. After all, until now no one knows this, because Ukrainians do not fulfill the obligations that they took
Alexander Vavilov, professor of the Diplomatic academy
According to Vavilov, the publication of correspondence between foreign ministers is not a novelty in diplomatic practice. He concluded that such incidents have occurred more than once.
Earlier, Lavrov said that the resolution of the conflict in Ukraine could be accelerated if Washington forced Kiev to respect the position of the United States and the UN Security Council on the observance of Minsk-2. According to him, no new dates for the meeting in the “Normandy format” to resolve the situation in Donbass are being discussed.