"We are still concerned about the situation in eastern Ukraine. The main obstacle on the path of overcoming the internal Ukrainian crisis is the Kiev authorities' persistent unwillingness to implement commitments they took in Minsk nearly two years ago. Moreover, Kiev continues to organize armed provocations on the contact line, does not stop belligerent revanchist rhetoric," Lavrov said in Russia's State Duma, the lower house of parliament.
Moreover, Russia hopes that Ukraine will act independently now that the United States is led by new President Donald Trump, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov added Wednesday.
"I hope that with the arrival of Donald Trump in the White House… [taking into account] that he does not want to interfere in other states' affairs, I think the Ukrainian authorities will feel the need to act more independently and not rely on their overseas patrons, as was the case under Barack Obama and Joseph Biden," Lavrov said in the State Duma.