MOSCOW, March 6. /TASS/. Russia is thankful to Nigeria for its understanding concerning the situation in Ukraine and values the West African nation’s balanced stance on Ukrainian issues at the UN, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said at a press conference following talks with his Nigerian counterpart, Yusuf Tuggar.

"We expressed gratitude to our Nigerian colleagues for understanding the situation in Ukraine, the causes [of the conflict] which have taken shape over many long years due to the policy conducted by Western countries that wished to turn Ukraine into a serious threat to the Russian Federation, to our culture, our citizens, to the Russian language," he said, adding that Russia also values Nigeria’s balanced position on the subject of Ukraine within the UN.

Lavrov also noted that during his talks with Nigeria’s top diplomat, he discussed the situation in the Middle East. "In light of the tragedy unfolding in the Gaza Strip, we support the consolidation of international efforts for [achieving] the swiftest ceasefire and generating the necessary conditions for providing humanitarian and other assistance to all those in need and we stand for not delaying the real work, not just performative work, for agreeing on the foundations of the Palestinian state along the lines of the decisions made by the UN Security Council and General Assembly," the Russian foreign minister pointed out.