BRASILIA, April 17./TASS/. Russia wants to see the conflict in Ukraine end as soon as possible, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov told a news conference on Monday following talks with his Brazilian counterpart Mauro Vieira.

"It is clear that we are interested in seeing the Ukrainian conflict end as soon as possible," the top diplomat said.

Lavrov also expressed gratitude to the Brazilians for their excellent understanding of why the conflict in Ukraine began as well as their readiness to contribute to finding a way to settle it.

"Today we talked [with our Brazilian counterpart] in the context of keeping in mind that such problems must be solved not just for the here and now, but on the basis of long-term agreements, which would be based above all on the principle of multilateralism and regard for the security interests of all states without exception. This is the principle of indivisibility of security," he added.

The top diplomat reiterated that Moscow has repeatedly given in-depth explanations about what is happening in Ukraine and the goals that Russia is pursuing there. "They are primarily to guarantee that there are no threats to the military security of the Russian Federation on the territory of Ukraine. These are the plans that the West has been putting into practice for many years. The second objective, of course, is to protect the lives and legitimate rights of the Russian-speaking population in eastern and southern Ukraine, rights that have been trampled upon for many years," Lavrov stressed.