New York [US] September 27 (ANI): Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov on Saturday said Moscow is open to negotiations to end the war in Ukraine, stressing that Russia's security concerns and the rights of Russian-speaking people must be addressed before any settlement.

'As President Vladimir Putin has repeatedly emphasised, Russia has been and remains open to negotiations on eliminating the root causes of the conflict,' Lavrov said at the 80th session of the United Nations General Assembly in New York.

'Russia's security and its vital interest must be reliably agreed. The rights of Russians and Russian-speaking people in the territories that remain under the control of the Kyiv regime must be restored in full. On this basis, we are ready to discuss security guarantees for Ukraine.'

Lavrov accused Western nations of ignoring Moscow's security concerns and continuing NATO's expansion in violation of earlier assurances. 'Neither Europeans realise the gravity of the situation nor are they willing to negotiate honestly. NATO continues to expand right up to our borders, contrary to assurances given to Soviet leaders not to advance a single inch to the east,' he said.

The Russian foreign minister also rejected claims by some Eastern European countries that Moscow was violating their airspace with jets and drones. 'Russia is being accused of planning to attack the North Atlantic Alliance and European Union countries. President Putin has repeatedly debunked these provocations, Russia does not have and does not have any such intentions,' he said. 'However, any aggression against my country will be met with a decisive response. Let there be no doubt about this in NATO and the EU.'

Turning to the Middle East, Lavrov said Russia condemned the October 7 attack led by Hamas militants into Gaza but added that there was 'no justification for the brutal killings of Palestinians' since then. He also criticised Israel's plans for the West Bank. 'There is also no justification for Israeli plans to annex the West Bank,' Lavrov said, adding that countries which are only now recognising Palestinian statehood were acting too late.

Lavrov further hit out at Western efforts in the United Nations Security Council over Iran, after China and Russia's proposal to extend the 2015 nuclear agreement was rejected. 'This finally exposed the West's policy of sabotaging constructive solutions in the UN Security Council and its desire to extract unilateral concessions from Tehran through blackmail and pressure. We consider such a policy to be unacceptable and consider all manipulations to restore all anti-Iranian UN sanctions, as well as the sanctions themselves, illegal,' he said.

On the recent strikes on Iran's nuclear facility by the United States, Lavrov said they deserved condemnation. 'The Iran strikes deserve condemnation,' he said, adding that Western attempts to reimpose sanctions on Tehran were 'illegal.' (ANI)