Russia says it prefers diplomacy to war.

Agency Brazil Russia wants to resolve the crisis over Ukraine through diplomatic means without resorting to war, but will not allow its interests to be violated or ignored, Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said today (28). 

"If it depends on Russia, there will be no war. We don't want wars. But we will not allow our interests to be grossly violated, ignored," Lavrov stated in an interview broadcast on several Russian radio and television stations.

"For many decades we have chosen the path of diplomacy. We have to work with everyone, that is our principle," he added.

Ukraine and Western countries have accused Russia of sending at least 100 troops to the Ukrainian border in recent months, with the intention of invading the neighboring country again, after annexing the Ukrainian peninsula of Crimea in 2014.

Russia denied this intention, but said it felt threatened by the 20-year expansion of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) into Eastern Europe and by Western support for Ukraine.

Moscow demanded an end to NATO's expansion policy toward Ukraine and Georgia, an end to all Western military cooperation with the former Soviet republics, and the withdrawal of allied troops and weapons to their pre-1997 positions.

The United States (USA) and NATO formally rejected Moscow's main demands on Wednesday (26), but proposed the diplomatic route to deal with the crisis.

In particular, they opened the door to negotiations on the reciprocal limits on the deployment of short- and medium-range missiles by the two rival nuclear powers in Europe, and on military exercises near the borders of the opposing camp.

Lavrov considered the US responses to Russia's demands for security guarantees to be "quite confusing."

He admitted that he found "seeds of rationality" in "matters of secondary importance," such as the issue of short- and medium-range missile installations, and said that debate on the issue has been rejected by the United States. "Now, they propose to address the issue," he said.

Regarding the threat of new US sanctions, including targeting Russian leadership and disconnecting the country from international financial systems, Lavrov stated that "it would be equivalent to a rupture in relations."

Russian President Vladimir Putin and French President Emmanuel Macron will speak by telephone today about the Ukrainian crisis.

Macron is expected to propose a way for Putin to ease tensions between Russia and Western countries.

France currently holds the rotating presidency of the Council of the European Union.

Subscribe to 247, Support via Pix, Subscribe to TV 247, in the channel Cuts 247 and watch: