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Russia to promote its latest Ukraine proposals — Lavrov

The top Russian diplomat said that Putin in his speech had elaborated on the legitimacy of the current government in Ukraine

MOSCOW, June 14. /TASS/. Russia will advocate its latest proposals for settlement in Ukraine and will expect responses, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov told reporters.

"With respect to the role of the Foreign Ministry, we are not going to chase after anyone. Our ambassadors will pass on the text of [Russian President Vladimir Putin's] speech at the meeting with the leadership of the Russian Foreign Ministry in the most detailed way in the respective capitals, explain additionally what is meant, the background of this whole situation, and we will expect that reactions will follow," the minister said.

Lavrov said that Putin in his speech had elaborated on the legitimacy of the current government in Ukraine.

"Everything is obvious, everything is clear about that," he said. "Moreover, the president, when he covered this issue before, said that with all these conclusions, which any lawyer can easily make after familiarizing himself with the Ukrainian constitution, <...> the final decision should be made within the political and legal framework of Ukraine."

"If this signal has not been heard by anyone so far, well, then it means that we once again feel disappointed in our Western partners," the minister continued, referring to the settlement proposals.

The Russian president said at a meeting with the Foreign Ministry leadership that Russia will halt fire and be ready for talks as soon as Kiev starts withdrawing troops from Donbass and Novorossiya, outside their administrative boundaries "that existed at the time of their entry into Ukraine," and issues an official notification that it is giving up plans to join NATO.