MOSCOW, April 4. /TASS/. Russia is ready to engage in a dialogue for a settlement on Ukraine and guarantees for its security, but only on equal terms that duly factor in Moscow’s own vital security interests, Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov told reporters.

"And the last thing I said to our colleagues today, commenting on their calls to the West and Ukraine not to discuss anything without Russia, that if there is something to be discussed, it can be discussed on absolutely equal terms, when no one puts on your table any 'formulas' that are completely meaningless and useless," the top diplomat said after a meeting with the heads of foreign diplomatic missions in Moscow.

"An honest conversation [between Russia and Ukraine is possible] based on new realities, based on Russia's security interests, first of all, as [Russian] President [Vladimir Putin] said in his recent speech, emphasizing that he is ready, and we are ready, of course, to ensure such agreements that will take into account the security interests of other countries, including Ukraine," Lavrov pointed out.

According to the top Russian diplomat, there was such an opportunity in April 2022 in Istanbul, but it was scotched by then-British Prime Minister Boris Johnson, with backing from the United States. "And since then, of course, let it be the battlefield and so the battlefield it is, here we go. And situations on the battlefield determine new realities," the Russian foreign minister emphasized.