UNITED NATIONS, February 23. /TASS/. Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmitry Kuleba is poised to have contacts with his Russian counterpart Sergey Lavrov, Kuleba said after his speech at the session of the UN General Assembly on Wednesday.

Kuleba claimed that for several months he had been trying to arrange a meeting with Lavrov within the Normandy Four group, and had been asking for talks by phone, but the Russian foreign minister allegedly would not answer the phone, nor had he agreed to hold a Normandy Four ministerial meeting.

"If he is ready to persuade [Russian] President [Vladimir] Putin to stop this madness, we are open to talks. I am open," Kuleba said.

The situation at the Donbass engagement line flared up on February 17. The Donetsk and Lugansk People’s Republics (DPR and LPR) reported the most massive bombardments by the Ukrainian armed forces over the past months. On February 18, LPR and DPR Heads Leonid Pasechnik and Denis Pushilin announced civilian evacuations from the republics to Russia due to the mounting danger of hostilities. On February 19, the Donbass republics announced a general mobilization.

On February 21, Russian President Vladimir Putin announced a decision to recognize the sovereignty of the Donetsk and Lugansk People’s Republics. The treaties on friendship, cooperation and mutual assistance were signed with their leaders. On February 22, the State Duma and the Federation Council ratified both documents and Putin signed the respective laws on the same day. Putin commissioned the Russian Foreign Ministry to establish diplomatic relations with the DPR and the LPR and the Russian Defense Ministry to ensure peace there.