China could arrange Russia-Ukraine peace conference, Lavrov tells RIA By Reuters

(Reuters) – China could arrange a peace conference in which Russia and Ukraine would participate, the RIA news agency cited Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov as saying on Thursday.

Lavrov said such a move would be a continuation of Beijing’s efforts to resolve the Ukrainian crisis.

“We share (China’s) position that the root causes of the conflict need to be addressed in the first place and legal interests of all parties need to be protected, with subsequent agreements based on the principle of equal and indivisible security,” Lavrov said in an interview with the agency.

“Let me underscore again, this entails respecting realities on the ground, which reflect the will of people living there.”

Russia has repeatedly called for talks with a precondition that Kyiv and the West recognise its territorial gains in Ukraine. Kyiv has rejected those proposals.

Lavrov criticised the United States for aiding Ukraine, saying Washington has become “an accomplice in the crimes of the Kyiv regime”. In the Middle East, Lavrov said, the United States was also “fanning the flames of conflict”.