Russia's Lavrov speaks about non-public contacts with Western countries’ representatives regarding Ukraine

Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov stated that Russia had non-public contacts with representatives of Western countries. In them, according to Russian FM, the authorities of Ukraine, in particular, the policy of the country's president Volodymyr Zelenskyy, were discussed, reports Kommersant.
Speaking at the news conference following the BRICS foreign ministers' meeting, Lavrov discussed the possibility of negotiations between Russia and Ukraine. He said that in Ukraine, the Russian language is prohibited in education and media, and this directly limits the rights of the Russian diaspora in Ukraine.
"When our friends in various countries heartily propose negotiation processes, sometimes it sounds like this. But is the demand to respect the rights of any national minority, especially of such a large minority as the Russians in Ukraine, an artificial initial bait? I don't think so," said the Russian FM.
According to Lavrov, it is necessary to "return the Ukrainian regime to the legal field," where other responsible members of the world community live.
"I think that the realization that one can simply leave this situation and sit at the negotiating table as if nothing happened is wrong. Moreover, no one in the West, we had some unpublished contacts, wants to notice the Nazi, Russophobic effect this [Ukrainian] regime is creating," the Russian FM added.

• Lavrov
• BRICS
• Russia
• foreign ministers
• contacts
• Western countries
• Ukraine
• Zelenskyy