Lavrov Says Russia Received No Serious Proposals from US on Talks

 Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov slammed US statements that Russia left unanswered Washington's proposals on negotiations on Ukraine as lies, saying that Moscow received no serious proposals.

"This is a lie (that Russia refuses to negotiate). We did not receive any serious proposals to enter into contact. There were some not very serious calls, to which we also did not respond negatively, but offered to formulate specific proposals, with which some people want to contact us through indirect contacts. And in this case, we did not receive more specific explanations from anyone," Lavrov told the Rossiya 1 broadcaster on Tuesday.

US National Security Council spokesman John Kirby said on Monday that a way out of the situation around Ukraine should be sought through diplomacy. At the same time, he noted that Washington did not see Russia's serious intentions to negotiate with Kiev, Sputnik reported.

Moscow is not aware of details of Ankara’s new initiative to organize talks between Russia and several Western states on the situation in Ukraine, Sergey Lavrov said.