Russian president, Luxembourg's premier discuss Ukraine in phone talk

By Elena Teslova

MOSCOW (AA) - Russian President Vladimir Putin discussed the situation in Ukraine in a phone talk with Luxembourg's Prime Minister Xavier Bettel on Saturday, a Kremlin statement said.

"In a follow-up to their previous conversation, the leaders discussed the situation in Ukraine and Donbas in view of Russia’s special military operation.

"Vladimir Putin emphasized the continuing missile strikes by the Ukrainian army at Donetsk and other cities in the Donetsk and Lugansk people’s republics which cause numerous civilian casualties," the statement noted.

Putin also stressed that the US military's "biological activity in Ukraine" is unacceptable since it poses "an enormous threat" both to Russia and all of Europe, it added.

For his part, Bettel informed Putin of his contacts with the leaders of a number of countries, including Ukraine, the statement also said.

It added that Putin provided his "principled assessments of the progress made at the talks" between Russian and Ukrainian representatives.

- Russia hopes its 'special military operation' in Ukraine will end up with peace deals

Separately, speaking at a meeting with the finalists of the Russia - Land of Opportunity international management competition, Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov expressed hope that the Russia-Ukraine war will end up with the signing of peace documents about Ukraine's neutral status, security guarantees for Kyiv, cancellation of legislation violating rights of the Russian-speaking population of Ukraine.

Asked why Russia did not interfere in the 2014 coup in Ukraine, Lavrov said Moscow put too much hope for the West, hoped Germany and France -- as guarantors of the Minsk agreement and participants of the Normandy Four format along with Russia and Ukraine on the Ukrainian settlement -- would do everything to solve "the conflict between Kyiv and the Donbas region" peacefully.

"Then we relied too much on the remnants of the conscience of our Western colleagues, after all, the 'Normandy format' was created on the initiative of the French, we were asked not to declare that we categorically do not recognize the election of (former President of Ukraine Petro) Poroshenko at the end of May 2014.

"We relied too much (on the West), out of naivety and out of the kindness of hearts, which is characteristic to our people," he said.

Lavrov then noted that former US Secretary of State John Kerry recognized the results of the Russian referendum in Crimea.

"I will tell you a secret, I hope that the former US secretary of state, who held this post at that time, will not take offense at me. John Kerry in April 2014 after the Crimean referendum said: 'We all understand that it was a fair vote, but you held it at an accelerated pace, announced it in a week and immediately voted.'

"He said 'announce it (the referendum) in a couple of months, the result will be exactly the same, but you will invite international observers, and they will bless you and verify everything'," Lavrov added.

According to the minister, Kerry's words show that "everyone understands the referendum was fair," but it had to be done with the West's blessing.

Despite all differences, Russia remains open to cooperation with the Western countries, however, it will not put forward any initiatives, will wait for suggestions from the other side, the minister stressed.

The Russia-Ukraine war, which started on Feb. 24, has drawn international condemnation, led to financial restrictions on Moscow, and spurred an exodus of global firms from Russia.

At least 847 civilians have been killed and 1,399 injured in Ukraine since the beginning of the war, according to the UN, while noting that conditions on the ground make it difficult to verify the true number.

Over 3.32 million people have also fled to neighboring countries, said the UN refugee agency.