MOSCOW. Sept 4 (Interfax) - The Kyiv authorities' intention to revise Ukraine's non-aligned status derails the efforts toward peacefully settling the conflict in the southeastern part of the country, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said.
"Right at the moment while approaches are being explored to start resolving the concrete problem between Kyiv and the militias, the Kyiv authorities aired the demand on discarding the non-aligned status and starting accession to NATO. This is a sure attempt to derail all efforts aimed at arranging a dialogue with the aim of ensuring national security," Lavrov said at a meeting with the Council of Europe secretary general on Thursday.
The Russian minister urged other countries to stop provoking such approaches and continue work toward a peaceful resolution of the conflict.
"It is necessary to curb such attempts, stop provoking such approaches from abroad, and work together toward the same goal, that is, ensure national unity in Ukraine," Lavrov said.
"Some of our Western partners, including the most influential United States, want NATO to win and to have a situation in which America dictates its will to everyone. This exceptionalist philosophy that President Obama has repeatedly declared won't make and already hasn't made any good," he said.