"Wouldn't know what..."

Kremlin: Lavrov to meet US delegation on Tuesday

Lavrov travels to Saudi Arabia

(Bild: AP)

Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov sees no need for EU representatives to take part in talks to resolve the Ukraine conflict. "I don't know what they have to do at the negotiating table", Lavrov said in Moscow on Monday in view of demands from the EU to be involved in the talks.

Lavrov said ahead of his first meeting with his US counterpart Marco Rubio this Tuesday in Saudi Arabia that the Europeans had been involved in negotiations several times in the past without contributing to a solution.

Russia accuses the West of having contributed to the overthrow of the pro-Moscow Ukrainian President Viktor Yanukovych in 2014. Moscow also complains that the Minsk agreement on the ceasefire in the Donbass region ten years ago was also concluded with the mediation of Germany and France in order to strengthen Ukraine militarily.

Russia rejects territorial concessions to Ukraine
Lavrov also rejects the idea of making territorial concessions to Ukraine in the course of possible negotiations. At his meeting with Rubio, he primarily wanted to listen to US ideas, said the minister. During their telephone conversation last week, Russian leader Vladimir Putin and US President Donald Trump spoke about the need to put the "absolutely abnormal period in relations between the two superpowers behind them".

It was about resuming the dialog on all issues, including the situation in the Middle East and other troubled regions of the world in addition to Ukraine, Lavrov said. Russia would respond to the proposals from the US side.

Lavrov, who is accompanied in Riyadh by Putin's foreign policy advisor Yuri Ushakov, explained that further steps would be discussed afterwards. According to the Kremlin, the talks are also about preparing for a possible meeting between Putin and Trump in Saudi Arabia. Ukraine has been defending itself against the Russian war of aggression for almost three years.