DUSHANBE, July 30./ITAR-TASS/.Russia welcomes Belarus’s proposal to grant a floor for negotiations between the warring parties in Ukraine, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said on Wednesday.

“We invariably come in favour of talks and will welcome any opportunity to see that happen. We do appreciate Belarus’s proposal in this respect,” Lavrov said.

“No matter how our Western partners may treat Belarus: imposing sanctions or alienating it from the Council of Europe. However, when the moment of truth came, Minsk turned out to be an acceptable floor for holding negotiations between Ukraine’s warring parties,” Lavrov said.

This, according to the Russian foreign minister, speaks of Belarus’s international reputation and provides a convincing proof that honest policy is ultimately recognized even by those who dislike certain states and their leaders.

“We are going to welcome any contacts and we would like to thank our Belarusian colleagues for helping Ukrainians to sit down to talks what we have sought for a long time,” the Russian Foreign Ministry said.

“One meeting is certainly not enough. But we hope that negotiations will start in compliance with the April 17 agreement. The priority steps now are to stop violence and end military hostilities in the Malaysian Boeing crash area.

Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko told his Ukrainian counterpart Pyotr Poroshenko in a conversation earlier in the day that he agreed to make Minsk the venue for negotiations between all the parties interested in the settlement of the Ukraine crisis.