YEREVAN, June 23. /ITAR-TASS/. Russia upholds efforts aimed at launching a national dialogue in Ukraine, Russia’s Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov has said.

“Then it is necessary to get into direct talks,” Lavrov said on Monday.

“There is no alternative to ceasefire that should be announced and observed,” he said.

“If the Ukrainian crisis is resolved by force, this will hamper stable political settlement,” Lavrov said.

Ukraine’s future state structure can be only solved during direct talks that “will guarantee citizens’ equal rights and freedoms in all regions”, he said.

“Russia is not guided by geopolitical ambitions in Ukraine. Assistance to people is the priority task,” Lavrov said.

“We support the efforts aimed at launching the negotiating process,” he said.

“It is clear that the country is suffering the deep crisis. It is also clear that one can’t suppress one part of the country and subordinate it to the other’s will,” Lavrov said.

“The stable settlement is possible only by direct talks: it is necessary to clarify the terms of federalisation, decentralisation and any other that are aimed at ensuring the rights and freedoms of all citizens living in Ukrainian regions,” he said.

Ties between the leadership of Donetsk and Luhansk self-proclaimed people’s republics and several representatives of Russian political establishment are explained by common roots dating back to the Soviet Union, Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said on Monday.

“As for ties they are explained very simply - around 90% of establishment came from one country - the Soviet Union,” he said in reply to a question about allegedly existing ties between the leaders of self-proclaimed republics and several representatives of Russian political and business elite.