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Lavrov, Kerry discuss need to stop military operation in eastern Ukraine – Moscow

“[Lavrov] stressed the necessity of the earliest possible cessation by Kyiv of its military operation in the southeast, agreeing ceasefire terms, solving the acute humanitarian problems, and launching a truly pan-national dialogue on the future state structure of Ukraine.

Special emphasis was put on the importance of direct negotiations between the parties to the Ukrainian conflict to reach agreements that would serve all these purposes,” the ministry said in a statement.

“Lavrov and Kerry expressed support for the efforts of the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe in carrying out the roadmap for reaching a settlement in Ukraine that is a follow-up to the Geneva agreement of April 17,” it said.

“The ministers also discussed the task of completing the operation to evacuate chemical weapon components from Syria and stepping up the search for ways of political settlement of the Syrian crisis,” the ministry said.

Attempts to replace OSCE roadmap on Ukraine settlement counter-productive – Lavrov

“We consider any attempts to replace the OSCE roadmap with other plans to be counterproductive,” said Russian Foreign Minister, Sergei Lavrov, on Wednesday when opening a meeting with OSCE Secretary General, Lamberto Zannier. He added that, “the work of the OSCE special monitoring mission should continue and “be objective”.

“The roadmap [on the Ukrainian settlement submitted by OSCE chairperson] should not be deviated from,” Lavrov said.

The Kyiv authorities have officially refused Russia the right to provide humanitarian aid to those in need in southeastern Ukraine, so this is done via self-defense forces.

Human rights violations in Ukraine to be recorded in ‘White Book’ – Russian Foreign Ministry

“We aspire to provide humanitarian aid to those, who have not yet left the battle area. We officially  asked the authorities in late May for permission to deliver such aid. We were refused with an official note, so we provide aid with the assistance of militia,” Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said, Interfax reports.

Lamberto Zannier, the OSCE Secretary-General’s intention to meet refugees from Ukraine in the Rostov region is “a good thing”, Sergei Lavrov said during his meeting with Zannier in Moscow on Wednesday.

“I know that you will visit the Rostov region during your visit, where you plan to meet refugees from the Donetsk and Lugansk regions. We believe it will be very useful to build a complete picture, talk with eyewitnesses of those events and get a clear and objective idea about events taking place in southeastern Ukraine,” Lavrov said.

Urgent measures needed to ease humanitarian situation in Ukraine – FM Lavrov

Urgent measures to relieve the humanitarian situation in Ukraine are badly needed, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said on Monday after talks with his Finnish counterpart Erkki Tuomioja. “Given all the nuances, we have a common position that the Geneva communiqué and the OSCE roadmap are the common denominator. They open a way to the settlement. A priority step is stopping violence and launching a nationwide dialogue and a constitutional reform,” he said.

Kyiv should immediately stop using army against Ukraine population – Moscow

“I agree that Ukrainians should make their choice freely, independently, without interference from outside,” Sergei Lavrov said.

“The history of that country in the past ten years is abundant in examples of flagrant interference into its domestic affairs.

The Russian foreign minister added that Russia and Finland should value their relations: “After all, our relations should not depend on someone’s whims. They concern mutually beneficial partnership and implementation of joint projects. We should value these relations instead of sacrificing them to politicized approaches.”

Union relations with Ukraine should be built with due account of integration processes both in the east and in the west of the European continent, Sergei Lavrov said.

“Union with Ukraine should be built with due account of integration processes both in the east and the west of the European continent and on the basis of mutually acceptable approaches,” he said, TASS reports.

“It would be a path for creating a common humanitarian and economic space in the Euro-Atlantic region.”

According to Interfax Sergei Lavrov also said European leaders’ contacts with Ukrainian President Petr Poroshenko will hopefully help improve the situation in Ukraine.

“I hope the contacts in Normandy with President-Elect Poroshenko will change the situation after all, and the new leader in Kyiv will honor his obligations to end the violence and start a dialogue with all regions of Ukraine,” Lavrov said at a press conference in Turku, Finland, on Monday.

“Ukraine has obligations and they remain in effect with regards to the Commonwealth of Independent States’ free trade zone – a zone formed on Kyiv’s initiative and even insistence,” he said.

“If Ukraine makes the free choice in favor of economic association with another trade and economic union, then, of course, one will have to assess what consequences this will have for Ukraine’s obligations under the current agreements in the CIS,” Lavrov said.