Lavrov says deal 'possible' to resolve Ukraine conflict

Kiev: Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov on Saturday voiced optimism that a plan being worked on by Moscow, Berlin and Paris could bring an end to the Ukraine conflict.

"These talks will continue as you know; we believe there is every possibility that we will reach a result and agree the recommendations that will allow the sides to really untie this knot of a conflict," Lavrov said a day after the German and French leaders visited Moscow.

He said Russia would be ready to guarantee a fresh peace plan based on the Minsk accords signed by Kiev, the Russian-backed rebels and Moscow in September but which has so far failed to halt the fighting.

"If the main participants in the Minsk process -- the Ukrainian authorities and the representatives of the Donetsk and Lugansk people`s republics -- reach agreements on each of the points of the Minsk pact, I am sure that Russia will be among those who will guarantee these agreements."

Russia`s top diplomat was speaking at the Munich Security Conference where he was to meet a series of world leaders including German Chancellor Angela Merkel, and top US diplomat John Kerry, to discuss the latest peace initiative.

Lavrov also took the opportunity to rehearse a litany of longstanding Russian grievances against the West which he charged had supported reactionary forces in Kiev against Ukraine`s best interests.

"The United States and the European Union have taken steps to escalate the Ukraine crisis at every turn," he said.

Rather than beginning just last year with the ouster of pro-Russian president Viktor Yanukovych, the Ukraine crisis was the culmination of 25 years of US efforts to undermine the security architecture for Europe agreed at the end of the Cold War, he said.