Russia Is Considering the Exchange of Ambassadors with Ukraine

The Russian Foreign Ministry believes that even in the current conditions, Moscow and Kiev are strongly interconnected in various fields and the restoration of diplomatic relations at the ambassadorial level will be appropriate. Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said that Russia is ready to return its ambassador to Kiev and receive the Ukrainian ambassador to Moscow. He said this on Monday, February 10, in an interview with Russian Newspaper. Lavrov recalled that after the outbreak of Russian aggression in Ukraine, Kiev recalled its ambassador from Moscow. "The Ukrainian side recalled the ambassador, threatened to break off diplomatic relations. Now, however, it seems like someone there mentioned a possible Zelensky’s decision to return the ambassadors. We do not mind. Even in the current conditions, our countries are highly interconnected on economy,on transport, on humanitarian issues and family ties. And, of course, it’s not wise to constantly create any kind of barriers be it for air traffic, then for rail transport and even for communication,” he said. Lavrov also said that he met with the Minister of Foreign Affairs of Ukraine Vadym Prystaiko live only once within the Norman Summit in Paris in December 2019. As you know, in March 2014, Ukraine recalled Ambassador Volodymyr Yelchenko from Moscow for consultations. Russia took a similar step in 2016. Later, the Ukrainian Foreign Ministry said that the appointment of the Russian ambassador to Ukraine was removed from the agenda at the initiative of the Ukrainian side.