MOSCOW, February 18. /TASS/. The Geneva talks on Ukraine saw Moscow and Washington continue discussion of the "Alaska Summit understandings" aimed at eliminating the root causes of the Ukrainian conflict, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said in an interview with Al Arabiya television channel.
"We will discuss the understandings reached in Alaska during our talks with the Americans in Geneva. They are based on the recognition of the root causes of the conflict and the need to remove them," Russia’s top diplomat stated.
"No NATO membership for Ukraine, and no attempts to overturn the decision of the people in Donbass, who chose to reunite with Russia amid their total discrimination in Ukraine, when the Kiev regime adopted laws aimed at eradicating everything Russian and canonical Orthodoxy," Lavrov emphasized.
"These requirements have been recognised, and I hope they will continue to be recognised based on the understandings reached in Alaska," the Russian foreign minister added.
The meetings in Geneva continued the trilateral consultations between Russia, the United States and Ukraine, the first round of which took place in Abu Dhabi on January 23-24 and the second one hosted by the same venue on February 4-5.
The trilateral negotiations between Russia, the United States and Ukraine were held in Geneva on February 17-18. On the first day the consultations lasted six hours. The negotiations were held behind closed doors.
Negotiations on February 18 lasted for about two hours. They were difficult, but businesslike, Russian delegation head Vladimir Medinsky said after the meeting, adding that the next meeting will be held soon.
Abu Dhabi meetings
On January 23, the first day of trilateral security consultations took place in Abu Dhabi. A second meeting was held on January 24. The Russian negotiating team was led by Igor Kostyukov, head of the Main Directorate of the Russian Armed Forces’ General Staff. The Ukrainian part of the trilateral working group was headed by National Security and Defense Council Secretary Rustem Umerov.
The second round of trilateral talks were also held in Abu Dhabi on February 4 and 5. Russian presidential press secretary Dmitry Peskov announced another round of trilateral talks on Ukraine in Geneva on February 17 and 18.