Kiev would be ready for the new round of Geneva negotiation to ease the tension in Ukraine if Moscow supports Ukraine's presidential election, Ukraine's acting foreign minister said on Tuesday in Vienna.
Andrii Deshchytsia told a press conference that his country would back a new round of talks in Geneva to ease the tension in Ukraine if Russia supports this process by eliminating its "threat" to Ukraine.
"If Russia is ready to commit itself to supporting these elections and to eliminate this threat and eliminate its support for the extremist elements in Ukraine, we are ready to have such a round of meetings," he told reporters during a meeting of the Council of Europe in Vienna with focus on the Ukraine crisis.
The speech was made shortly after the remarks made by Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov who said it would be "unusual" to hold a presidential election in Ukraine while the government was deploying the army against "some of its people".
Lavrov also said the new round of international negotiation on de-escalating tension in Ukraine should include the "oppositions" on the negotiation table.
Lavrov said he believes that the new round of international talks in Geneva would "go round in circles" if no pro-Russia representatives take part in the diplomatic process.