BELGRADE, March 1. /TASS/. Moscow strives openly to achieve peace, whereas Western countries support the conflict causing severe damage to Ukraine and its people, Milorad Dodik, President of Republika Srpska (entity of Bosnia and Herzegovina, BiH), said after talks with Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov.

"We held fruitful negotiations. The Russian side always aspires to ensure that peace is achieved as soon as possible, but, as you can see, the West persistently arms Russia’s foe and wages its war harming Ukraine and its suffering people. This is happening all the time as they are constantly supporting certain forces in Ukraine so that those would not agree to sit down at the table and find a solution through negotiations," Dodik told the RTPS television channel.

"You could also have heard [French President Emmanuel] Macron’ statement, which is almost unimaginable, that he is ready to send his troops to Ukraine. This will definitely trigger World War III," the president of Republika Srpska said.

On March 1, Lavrov and Dodik held a meeting in Antalya on the sidelines of the Antalya Diplomacy Forum.