MOSCOW, March 14. /TASS/. Russia and Qatar will maintain contact on the situation in Ukraine, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said at a press conference following talks with Qatari top diplomat Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al-Thani on Monday.

"I believe that we both found the conversation useful and agreed to maintain contact on the issue. I would like to reiterate that we appreciate Qatar’s willingness to contribute to efforts to achieve the desired results," Lavrov pointed out.

"We also appreciate the fact that Qatar seeks to make the most of its opportunities to facilitate agreements on the issues on the agenda based on the interests of common European security, including Ukraine’s security and Russia’s security and the need to make sure that no threats come from Ukraine to Russia," Lavrov said.

He stressed that there should be no threats to those seeking to protect the Russian language, Russian culture and traditions, including religious ones, "as well as to those who wish to live in the country without having to face any kind of discrimination, particularly discrimination stemming from neo-Nazi sentiment."

On February 24, Russian President Vladimir Putin announced a special military operation based on a request from the heads of the Donbass republics. The Russian leader stressed that Moscow had no plans to occupy Ukrainian territories and the goal was to demilitarize and denazify the country.