“We remember how President Zelensky spoke a few weeks ago about the need for NATO to close the sky, start fighting for Ukraine, recruit mercenaries and send them to the front,” the foreign minister told the RBC television channel.

He warned that the reaction at the time of the Ukrainian leader was “quite aggressive”. However, he explained that his call did not have the expected effect in the North Atlantic Treaty Organization where “sensible people continue working and were able to cool down the Ukrainian president’s ardor.”

In another part of his remarks, Lavrov stressed that there are possibilities for peace and settlement of the conflict between Russia and Ukraine.

According to the minister, in the process of negotiations between Russia and Ukraine, specific definitions were worked out and are about to be approved.

“The neutral statute of Ukraine is being seriously discussed along with security guarantees,” he said and reminded that these issues are part of the conditions put forward by Russian President Vladimir Putin.

“Any option is possible, any security guarantee acceptable to Ukraine and to all other countries including Russia, except NATO expansion. This is exactly what is being talked about in the negotiations,” he warned.

Lavrov expressed hope that the constructive attitude, shown at recent meetings by Kiev’s representatives, will make it possible to reach a concrete agreement on the issue of Ukraine’s neutral statute.

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