Latvian FM says road to peace in Ukraine long, hard:
Latvia's foreign minister, visiting Moscow, says "serious disagreements" over the conflict in Ukraine mean it may take a long time to find a solution.
Edgars Rinkevics, whose country holds the rotating European Union presidency, spoke at a joint news conference with Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov after their talks on January 12.
"I think the settlement process and the negotiating process will be complicated," Rinkevics said.
He said he believed the process "will take some time because we can see from our dialogue with all sides that there are serious disagreements."
Rinkevics spoke with Ukrainian officials in Kyiv on January 9.
His meeting with Lavrov came hours before Lavrov was to meet the foreign ministers of Ukraine, Germany, and France in Berlin later on January 12.
More than 4,700 people have been killed in a conflict between government forces and pro-Russian separatists in eastern Ukraine since April, including more than 1,300 since a deal on a cease-fire and steps toward peace was signed in Minsk on September 5.
Russia denies involvement and blames Kyiv and the West for the conflict.
Lavrov gave no sign of a change in Moscow's position.
He demanded Western states use their influence to "prevent the party of war in Kyiv from crushing all the fragile hopes that were created by the Minsk accords." (Interfax, AFP, and Reuters)
Should any translation be required, Ukraine's PM is saying, "Don't worry, dear, we'll always be with you."