MOSCOW, February 22. /TASS/. Russia doubts the European Union's (EU) ability to mediate conflicts, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said during a broadcast on the Rossiya-24 television channel on Tuesday.

"There are more and more doubts about the ability of the European Union to act as a mediator, as they position themselves, and to achieve any result that is even slightly significant," he maintained.

"The inability to achieve their own solutions, which the EU has shown, is quite indicative. By the way, this applies not only to the domestic Ukrainian crisis, where the EU failed with its guarantees, but it also applies to other areas of EU foreign policy," Lavrov noted.

On February 21, Russian President Vladimir Putin recognized the sovereignty of the DPR and LPR (the Donetsk and Lugansk People's Republics). Subsequent agreements on friendship, cooperation, and mutual assistance were signed with their leaders. Putin instructed the Russian Foreign Ministry to establish diplomatic relations with the DPR and LPR, and the Russian Defense Ministry was instructed to ensure the maintenance of peace on their territories.