“The Russian side, as a mediator of the peace process, calls on the German and French partners to continue joint efforts aimed at restoring peaceful life in eastern Ukraine,” the statement said.
As a set of regulatory measures, she called the lack of alternatives to an exclusively peaceful settlement, as well as direct dialogue between Kiev, Donetsk and Lugansk as parties to the conflict.
According to Zakharova, another settlement mechanism is the "Normandy format", the purpose of which is to facilitate the peace process and control the implementation of the Minsk agreements by the parties to the conflict.
Earlier, Assistant Secretary of State for European and Eurasian Affairs Karen Donfried said that at a meeting of NATO foreign ministers in Riga, the United States intends to discuss steps towards Russia due to the allegedly unusual military activity of the Russian side near Ukraine.
NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg said that the foreign ministers of NATO countries intend to discuss in Riga the "concentration of Russian forces" near the border of Ukraine.