Russian position has not changed after Abu Dhabi talks - Lavrov

Russia has not changed its position during the talks between Russia, the United States, and Ukraine in the UAE, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said in an interview with the Empatia Manuchi online project.

"We have not altered our stance," Sergey Lavrov said.

Talks aimed at achieving results do not lend themselves to publicity; that's why Moscow "maintains a diplomatic silence" on the results of the Abu Dhabi contacts.

According to him, the key principles on which the existence of a state and the lives of millions depend cannot be a subject of compromises on Ukraine.

"Listen: compromise cannot extend to fundamental principles upon which a state’s existence depends - least of all when the lives of millions hang in the balance," Sergey Lavrov said.

The Russian diplomat stressed that those commenting on the Abu Dhabi talks either want to thwart them or shift the blame for their lack of flexibility elsewhere.

"Public commentary at every turn serves only to sabotage discussions or, which amounts to the same, to shift blame for intransigence onto one’s counterpart," Sergey Lavrov said.