Moscow committed to diplomatic solution to Ukraine crisis: FM

MOSCOW, Jan. 20 (Xinhua) -- Russia is committed to finding a diplomatic solution to the Ukraine crisis, and to helping reduce tensions in all areas, including around Venezuela and Iran, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said here on Tuesday.

"We remain committed, as President (Vladimir) Putin has repeatedly stressed, to finding a diplomatic solution to the Ukraine crisis," Lavrov told an annual press conference on Russian diplomacy in 2025.

There has never been a lack of goodwill on the part of Russia to resolve the Ukraine crisis, but the West has sought to sabotage all agreements, Lavrov added.

On global issues, he noted that "we are interested in helping to reduce tensions in all areas that have now escalated and which I have listed, be it Venezuela or especially the Iranian situation."

The top Russian diplomat called for respect for Iran's right to peacefully use nuclear energy, adding that it serves as a key to de-escalating tensions with Tehran.

Lavrov said that the contemporary world operates under the principle of "might makes right," as the rules "supposedly underpinning the world order favored by the West have all been cast aside," with crises increasing within Western societies. ■