Moscow: US President-elect Donald Trump considers the settlement of the Ukrainian crisis a priority of his foreign policy, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said during a meeting with permanent members of the Russian Security Council, held via video link.

According to Azeri-Press News Agency, Lavrov stated, "Everyone is wondering what the official approaches promoted by the Trump administration will be. Unofficially, many members of his team, including Trump himself, have repeatedly spoken out on both the Middle East situation and the Ukrainian crisis, which Trump considers one of the priority areas of his foreign policy efforts with the goal of resolving it."

Lavrov further noted that Trump's team seems to understand certain aspects of Russia's position, specifically the unacceptability of Ukraine's membership in the North Atlantic Alliance. He remarked that these statements appear to be preparatory comments made ahead of Trump's official assumption of office and the approval of his administration members.