Peace talks are better than war, but it is necessary to eliminate the root causes of the conflict in Ukraine in order to successfully end it, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said, TASS reports.

“Negotiations are better than war. However, in order to succeed—and we are deeply convinced of this—it is necessary to eliminate the root causes of the conflict, as the Russian president has repeatedly emphasized," the top diplomat said at the 13th international meeting of high representatives in charge of security issues.

Also, Lavrov emphasized that for many years before the special military operation in Ukraine and after its beginning, "Russia has been offering and is offering the Ukrainian side to settle all the problems, and they are becoming more and more serious every year, through dialogue and diplomacy.”

Furthermore, the Russian FM expressed gratitude to the governments of countries that offered to facilitate negotiations between Russia and Ukraine without preconditions.