Settlement of crisis in Ukraine in 2015 is not only possible, but realistic - Lavrov in interview with Interfax
MOSCOW. Dec 29 (Interfax) - The resolution of the crisis in Ukraine is quite possible in 2015, but only if Kyiv and southeastern Ukraine reach agreements without outside influence, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said.
"As to the crisis in Ukraine, its resolution is not only possible, but quite realistic," he said in an interview with Interfax, responding to a question as to whether the crisis in southeastern Ukraine can be settled in 2015.
Lavrov said "the current tragic stage in the history of Ukraine should be overcome by restoring national accord, achieving a compromise, a balance of interests and building truly equal relations between all regions of this country."
"However, we should understand that the crisis will last until the people of Ukraine reach agreements among themselves, without prompters from Brussels and Washington," Lavrov said.
Lavrov reiterated that both sides of the conflict in Ukraine should agree on "what the Ukrainian state will be like, how the rights of citizens and ethnic minorities will be defended there, what the guaranteed status of the Russian language and other languages will be, and how the life of every region will be organized in general."
"The need for such comprehensive national dialogue with all regions and political forces of Ukraine resulting in the launch of a constitutional reform was outlined in the agreement of February 21, the Geneva statement on April 17, and the Minsk protocol of September 5, 2014," Lavrov said.
"We will continue to do everything to promote its launch and call for stable direct contacts between Kyiv and Donetsk and Luhansk in the context of the elections there, as well as further work in the Contact Group involving representatives of the DPR and the LPR," he said.