MOSCOW, June 28. /TASS/. Russian President Vladimir Putin will never reject interaction with his Western colleagues but German and French leaders Olaf Scholz and Emmanuel Macron are not interested in dialogue, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said.

"As for the openness to dialogue [on Ukraine], you see, there have been no serious proposals from anyone at all, I mean, in the West," the top Russian diplomat told Channel One on Wednesday. "For many months, either Scholz or Macron have repeatedly stated ‘I am going to call Putin,’ but if one wants to call, just call, why announce it publicly," he explained.

That said, Lavrov added that the Russian president would never reject interaction if his vis-a-vis was "interested in a conversation." "Compare all public statements by Western leaders with regard to interaction with Putin, this is simply unworthy of respect. If you are interested in a conversation, the Russian president will not reject such an interaction," the foreign minister added.

In this context, he added that a number of countries displayed readiness for a dialogue with Russia on the issue of settling the conflict in Ukraine. "The Africans asked to be received, we responded immediately. Now, the papal envoy [is here]. We talked with our Brazilian friends who sent over a representative of [President Luiz Inacio] Lula [da Silva]," the top diplomat concluded.