© Reuters/Leonhard FoegerRussian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov, not afraid to tell the truth, proves that not all politicians are lying dirtbags.
"In the midst of February Maidan confrontations in Kiev, Nato Defense Ministers and Secretary General stated the inadmissibility of intervention of the armed forces of Ukraine in the political process, and insisted on the neutrality of the army," Lavrov said.
Lavrov said that Brussels and Washington continue to confirm the legitimacy of the so-called 'anti-terrorist operation' led by Kiev's authorities explaining that the state has the monopoly on the use of armed forces. Russian Foreign Minister said that the events that have occurred in Odessa question the tolerability of neo-Nazis' glorification.
"All the members of the Council of Europe must firmly stop the ultra-nationalists activities, and those who indulge the ideology and the practice of fascism cannot be justified, even if they were politicians enjoying the protection of the enlightened western democracies," Lavrov said.
Russia does not promote regime change and color revolutions in other countries, said Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov. "We don't do regime change, we don't do color revolutions, let alone brown-hued ones like those in Ukraine," he told a press conference after a session of the Council of Europe Committee of Ministers. At the same time, Russia is not walking away from contacts with the current Kiev authorities, Lavrov said. "We are not walking away from contacts with our Ukrainian counterparts, and one result of such contacts was the Geneva Statement of April 17," the minister said.
Western partners are not ready to agree to the equitable participation of southeastern Ukraine in the national dialogue, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said.
"Practical steps can be taken only by the Ukrainians themselves if they are not restrained from cooperating with each other. Alas, our Western partners are not ready to agree to the equitable participation of southeastern Ukraine in the national dialogue," Lavrov told a press conference in Vienna.
Disagreements had been growing in Ukraine but, clearly, "the Western partners in the EU and the US actively used them to promote their unilateral agenda, their unilateral interests in disregard of the interests of the entire Ukrainian people," the minister stressed.
"We honestly speak about that, in particular, with our American and European colleagues. They claim this is not so. But if this is not so, then anything is possible and let us not tear Ukraine apart between the East and the West but pool efforts and help start the dialogue, which can coordinate practical steps towards the fulfillment of all agreements and statements," Lavrov said, Interfax reports.
Sergei Lavrov said he urged NATO to confirm the stance declared in February on unacceptability of using army to resolve domestic issues of Ukraine.
"In the midst of the events on Maidan the NATO secretary general and NATO defense minister said that interference of the Ukrainian armed forces in the political process is unacceptable and insisted that army should be neutral," Lavrov said at a news conference in Vienna on Tuesday.
"This was in February. I asked our colleagues from NATO countries today whether countries of the Alliance and NATO secretary general can confirm the same appeal - not to use the army, not to engage the army in the political process and not to allow army breaking its neutral status within its own country," Lavrov said. This should be the first step to resolve the situation in Ukraine, the minister said.
Russia is ready to work to organize a dialogue between the current authorities in Kiev and the Ukrainian regions, and calls on the United States and the European Union to act in the same way, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said. "We have reaffirmed our willingness to work in favor of organizing such a dialogue," the minister said. "The external actors - be it the United States, the European Union or Russia - must do their utmost to facilitate the launch of such talks," Lavrov said.
Russia disagrees with the opinion that the Geneva accords on Ukraine have failed, Sergei Lavrov stated.
"Nothing has failed," Lavrov told reporters after a session of the Council of Europe Committee of Ministers, responding to the question about the possible failure of the Ukrainian crisis settlement agreements reached at the Geneva negotiations, Interfax reports.
Coordination of practical steps to implement the Geneva accords is something the Ukrainian conflicting parties must do in the first place, said Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov.
"It's Ukrainians that must implement the accords - the regime and its opponents, because they are to live in one country, and they must coordinate practical steps to implement the Geneva statement on a mutually respectful and equitable basis," Lavrov said at a press conference in Vienna on Tuesday.
A governmental order to stop using the Ukrainian Army and the National Guard to suppress protests should be the first step towards de-escalation in Ukraine, said Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov.
"As for the de-escalation, I have already said that the first and obvious step is to cancel the order to use the army and the national guard for suppressing protests," Lavrov told reporters on Tuesday.
Sergei Lavrov said it is surprising that presidential elections are being held in Ukraine when the Ukrainian law enforcement services are carrying out an operation in southeastern regions.
"Holding elections in a situation where the armed forces are being used against part of the population is rather unusual. It's not Afghanistan, where a war is going on, but elections did take place," Lavrov said at a press conference in Vienna.
The new meeting in Geneva is "unlikely to add anything" in the absence of the forces opposed to the current regime in Kiev, said Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov.
"Getting together again in the same format, with the opposition to the current Ukrainian regime being absent at the table of negotiations, is unlikely to add anything. It is possible of course, but we shall be going in circles and saying again that everything we have agreed upon must be complied with," Lavrov told reporters after a session of the Council of Europe Committee of Ministers.
Moscow appreciates the efforts of the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe and the Council of Europe to create conditions for the practical steps to launch negotiations between the Ukrainians, he said At the CoE Committee of Ministers session a number of this organization's members tried to accuse Russia and threaten it over its position on Ukraine, Lavrov said.
"But I note that the majority of the discussion participants were still in favor of finding compromises guided primarily not by someone's geopolitical ambitions but the interests of the Ukrainian people," the minister said.
"We are convinced that there is a way out of the current crisis in Ukraine. It can be found solely on the basis of a nationwide dialogue, including in the context of the constitutional reform, a dialogue that will give full voice both to the east and south and in general to every Ukrainian region," Lavrov added.
Comment: The neo-Nazi Ukrainian element is the elephant in the room. But can you imagine the headlines if the West were to acknowledge its reality? "Neo-Nazi extremists kill pro-Russians in anti-terrorism operation" just doesn't have the same ring to it...