Russia seeks collective efforts in solution of global conflicts - FM Lavrov

MOSCOW, April 10. /TASS/. Russia’s approach as a mediator in the settlement of the conflicts around the globe is aimed at international collective efforts and never a single-sided dictate, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said on Friday. "All approaches, which we [Russia] are currently promoting, envisage collective efforts in the search of resolutions and not a dictate," Lavrov said at a meeting with representatives of the Russian non-governmental organizations (NGOs). Russia’s top diplomat said such approaches Russia had been proposing in regard to the settlement of the controversial Iranian nuclear program and the ongoing conflict in Syria, where "everybody realizes the need of the national dialogue." "I am positive that such approach will also gain its foothold in Ukraine, where the implementation of the Minsk accords is currently underway," Lavrov said adding that many countries "insist on their [Minsk accords] unconditional implementation." Minsk accords on Ukraine The Belarusian capital of Minsk hosted on February 12 summit talks of Normandy Four leaders - Russian President Vladimir Putin, Ukrainian President Pyotr Poroshenko, French President Francois Hollande and German Chancellor Angela Merkel. The over 16-hour marathon summit negotiations ended in a package of agreements, which in particular envisaged ceasefire between the Ukrainian conflicting sides starting from midnight on February 15. Prior to the summit talks Minsk also hosted the meeting of the Contact Group on Ukraine involving Ukraine’s ex-president Leonid Kuchma, Kiev’s special representative for humanitarian issues Viktor Medvedchuk, the leaders of the self-proclaimed Donetsk and Lugansk People’s Republics Alexander Zakharchenko and Igor Plotnitsky, and Russia’s ambassador to Ukraine Mikhail Zurabov and OSCE’s envoy Heidi Tagliavini, who both acted as mediators. As a result of the meeting, it was announced that an agreement was reached on the ceasefire in certain districts of the Donetsk and Lugansk regions, the heavy weaponry pullout and measures on a long-term political settlement of the crisis. Read more