Lavrov takes part in Munich Security Conference where Ukraine is top on agenda

MOSCOW, February 6. /TASS/. Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov takes part in the Munich Security Conference that opens on Friday to focus on the crisis in Ukraine and fight against terrorism. At last year's conference Ukraine was on the back burner, but a year later the crisis has reached catastrophic dimensions following a coup, Crimea’s accession to Russia and the start of a war in the eastern Donetsk and Lugansk regions. The conference will also focus on Iran’s nuclear programme, the situation in Syria and the Middle East settlement. A session of the Middle East Quartet is scheduled during the conference. On the sidelines of the Munich Security Conference, the Russian foreign minister is expected to meet with US Secretary of State John Kerry and NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg. "As for US Secretary of State John Kerry, I am meeting with him more often than with anyone of my colleagues, to say nothing about numerous telephone conversations," Lavrov said. "The main thing is to see a result from these conversations," he said earlier. Focusing on ties with NATO, Lavrov said Russia was ready for contacts on the basis of respect. "If our partners come to reason and speak respectfully, we will always be ready for that," the top Russian diplomat said. A crisis of the system of global and European security within the context of Ukraine will move to centre-stage. Russia has repeatedly voiced at Munich conferences initiatives to create an indivisible and equal architecture of security in the Euro-Atlantic region. "All developments of the recent years clearly show that problems of global security and stability can be settled only through joint efforts," Lavrov said earlier. He said some negative tendencies prevented this, including "insistent attempts of the West to retain leadership in global affairs at any cost, to impose, also through the use of force, their approaches and values on other participants in international relations". This approach could be seen in the Ukrainian crisis, the top Russian diplomat said. Read more