Russia "won't discuss criteria for lifting sanctions"

Russia "won't discuss criteria for lifting sanctions"

According to Lavrov, these sanctions are also counter-productive and affect everyone, including Russia - but Russia will emerge from this situation "even, I think, with an advantage," RIA Novosti reported.

"Our European partners who feel the negative impact of the sanctions should draw conclusions for themselves. It's their problem. It's not our problem," he said after his meeting in Moscow on Monday with Latvian Foreign Minister Edgar Rinkevics, whose country currently holds the rotating EU presidency.

Lavrov added that western countries are becoming increasingly aware that "the common threat of terrorism should not be allowed to spread and become deeper, at a time when cooperation mechanisms between Russia and the EU and NATO in this area have been frozen on western partners' initiative."

"I felt that yesterday during many conversations as I took part in the so-called Republican March in Paris," the Russian minister said.

Rinkevics said that the Minsk agreement has not been yet implemented, adding that "there are problems." The EU will consider lifting the sanctions it imposed on Russia "if there is real progress in solving the crisis in Ukraine," he said.

According to TASS, Lavrov said Russia has information that Kiev's troops are preparing a new attempt to resolve the conflict in eastern Ukraine by force.

“We have information, which is very worrisome, that security forces are preparing a new attempt of resolving the conflict by force,” Lavrov said. “This would be a catastrophe."

"The conflict in Ukraine cannot be resolved by military means," he stated, and added that he expected "foreign partners to influence Kiev in order to prevent such attempts."

Lavrov stressed that everyone should be engaged in implementing agreements, and above all, the sides in the conflict - Ukrainian authorities and representatives of the Donetsk and Lugansk regions - while Moscow sees launching of a direct national dialogue on constitutional reforms in Ukraine as the key principle.

"Consensus should be reached by means of national reconciliation on what kind of state will make all Ukrainians feel safe and comfortable," Lavrov said.