MOSCOW, April 11. /ITAR-TASS/. Russia is ready for a four-party meeting on Ukraine and talks, particularly on gas issue, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said at a meeting with Russian research-and-production associations in the Russian capital on Friday.

“We welcome the recent changes in the EU position.We are ready for this, including for discussions on gas issues that President Vladimir Putin raised in a letter to leaders of European states,” he said on Friday.

It is quite possible to deescalate current Ukrainian crisis, Lavrov noted.

“It is quite possible to deescalate current Ukrainian crisis. Attempts to legitimize 'Maidan' government should be stopped,” the diplomat said. “The top priority is to carry out a constitutional reform with all regions involved and fix an off-bloc status of Ukraine,” he said, adding that “Ukraine should be not an apple of discord, but a chain link in security architecture."

 

Protecting people's rights

Russia will protect the right of peoples for equal rights, Lavrov said.

“Russia pursues an active policy for forming a positive, well-balanced agenda,” he said. “We will protect fundamental norms and principles of international law, including respect for the right of peoples for equal rights and determination of their future without external interference," Lavrov added. 

Lavrov said the Russian language is an important uniting element for developing integration processes in the CIS space.

“We will continue to actively support the Russian language. It is a native language for many of those who live abroad,” he said.

 

Anti-Russian policy of Western countries

The anti-Russian policy pursued by a number of countries is “a new edition” of the line for containing Russia, Lavrov said.

“In response to our efforts for the observance of international law principles and creation of a universal security system, we have got the policy of spreading the West’ geopolitical influence to the East, which has become, in essence, ‘a new edition’ of the line for containing Russia,” the minister said.

“I note that an intention to present the situation in the way that serious problems in relations between Russia, the United States and the European Union had emerged as a result of current Ukrainian crisis are groundless," the diplomat stressed.

“It is enough to recall events of the last few years - a creeping NATO expansion despite promises that they have made, attempts to introduce sanction lists under different pretexts and unleashing an information campaign against Russia recently,” Lavrov added.