Lavrov on Ukraine crisis: No return before February 24

Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky’s demands to withdraw troops to the Feb. 24 line in order to start negotiations with Moscow were “unserious.”

“We pay great attention to Turkey’s efforts to open a corridor in the Black Sea,” Lavrov added during a press conference with his Turkish counterpart, Mevlut Cavusoglu.

On the impact of the war on the food crisis, the Russian Foreign Minister said that "Ukrainian wheat accounts for only 1% of global production, and Moscow will not pose any obstacle to cargo ships loaded with grain and oil."

“There is no relationship between Ukrainian grain and the food problem, but the EU portrays it as a global catastrophe,” he continued.

"Russian and Turkish military personnel are looking into details of demining Ukrainian ports to export grain," he noted.

He stressed his country's readiness to hold a quadripartite meeting in Istanbul with the United Nations, Turkey and Ukraine on grain exports.

"I discussed with my Turkish counterpart the preparation of a meeting between Ankara and Moscow at the highest level," he said.

"Ukraine and Russia should engage in serious peace talks, and we see a more positive atmosphere than it was a few weeks ago to return to negotiations between the two sides," Cavusoglu said.

"Achieving lasting peace in Ukraine is one of our country's priorities," he noted.

“We are working to balance our political relationship on the Ukraine crisis,” he added.

“We are talking about a mechanism that could be established between the UN, Russia, Ukraine and Turkey to create a grain transport corridor,” he continued.