Russia’s Lavrov says confrontation with an aim to put pressure on Russia with sanctions is futureless, Russian Foreign Ministry says

MOSCOW, February 8 /TASS/. Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said at a meeting with U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry that a policy of building up confrontation with an aim to put pressure on Russia with sanctions was futureless, the Russian Foreign Ministry said in a comment on the Lavrov-Kerry talks held in Munich. "The foreign policy chiefs discussed a wide range of issues related to Russian-U.S. relations," the ministry said. "Lavrov stressed that building up confrontation with an aim to put pressure on Russia with sanctions was futureless. We are not going to give up our national interests and fundamental stance on the key issues. At the same time, the Russian side is ready for constructive interaction with the United States both in the sphere of bilateral relations and in the international arena where our countries bear special responsibility for global stability," the Russian Foreign Ministry went on to say. "Lavrov and Kerry who discussed the Ukraine crisis noted that there was no alternative to a political settlement. In this connection, the U.S. secretary of state voiced support for the recent talks on the Ukraine crisis which Russian President Vladimir Putin, German Chancellor Angela Merkel and French President Francois Hollande held in Moscow," the ministry went on to say. "Russia and the United States believe that a comprehensive national dialogue on constitutional reform should be launched as an indispensible condition for achieving a stable and fair peace in Ukraine," the Russian Foreign Ministry said. "At the same time, Lavrov said that Washington’s plans to supply weapons and military hardware to the Kiev government were fraught with unpredictable consequences and were threatening to disrupt efforts to reach a political settlement in southeast Ukraine," the ministry emphasized. The Syrian crisis, Iran’s nuclear programme and the situation in Yemen were also part of the agenda. "Lavrov stressed that need to contribute to launching full-scale political dialogue between the official government in Damascus and the /Syrian/ opposition on the basis of experience of the inter-Syrian meeting held in Moscow in January," the Russian Foreign Ministry said adding the sides had also discussed prospects of negotiations on Iran’s nuclear programme and a number of other urgent international issues. Read more