UNITED NATIONS, April 26. /TASS/. Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov has branded as schizophrenic the West’s statements that talks between Russia and Ukraine will be possible only after Kiev’s counteroffensive.

"Now, this funny theory has emerged: let us we (Western nations - TASS) ensure Ukraine’s successful counteroffensive and then we will ask Ukraine, [President Vladimir] Zelensky to begin talks. But this is schizophrenic logic. We don’t want any threats to our security to come from Ukrainian territory and these threats have been accumulating there for years, especially after the state coup in February 2014," he told a news conference after his visit to New York as part of Russia’s presidency in the UN Security Council.

The topic of Ukraine’s possible counteroffensive has been circulating in the mass media for several months, with various dates being suggested. The Russian foreign ministry said earlier that the talk on this topic in Western countries indicated their direct involvement in the conflict.

The New York Times said on Tuesday citing Pentagon and intelligence classified documents leaked into the internet that Ukraine plans to launch a counteroffensive in the southern direction next month. According to the newspaper, 12 brigades of 4,000 servicemen each are to be trained by late April.