OREANDA-NEWS. Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov spoke about the progress in negotiations with Ukraine, the RBC TV channel reports.

“The neutral status (of Ukraine) is now being seriously discussed in conjunction, of course, with security guarantees. This is exactly what President Putin was talking about in February at one of his press conferences: any possible options, any generally acceptable security guarantees for Ukraine and for all countries, including Russia, with the exception of NATO expansion,” Lavrov said.

He also told at what stage the negotiations are now.

“Now this is what is being discussed at the talks, there are absolutely specific wordings that, in my opinion, are close to being agreed upon,” Lavrov said.

Out of respect for the negotiation process, the head of the Russian Foreign Ministry refused to talk about the details of the negotiations and give specific formulations.

Earlier, the Russian Foreign Ministry reacted to the optimism of Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky on negotiations with Russia.

The official representative of the Russian Foreign Ministry, Maria Zakharova, on the air of Sputnik radio, said that the realism of the positions of the parties in the negotiations, which was announced by President Vladimir Zelensky, depends only on Ukraine.

“I think this is more of a question for the Ukrainian side – as to whether it has become more realistic, whether it has become less out of touch with reality,” Zakharova said.