Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said on Monday that Ukraine was rejecting peace talks and the longer this continued, the harder it would be to resolve the conflict.
Russia has repeatedly said it is open to talks but Ukraine and the United States say they see no sign from Moscow that it is serious about negotiating, and suspect it of trying to buy time to regroup after a series of defeats in the war.
"The longer they (the Ukrainians) refuse, the harder it will be to find a solution," Lavrov told a news conference during a visit to South Africa.
Lavrov also said that Moscow did not want any "scandals" regarding joint naval drills between Russia, China and South Africa scheduled for next month.
Speaking on a visit to Pretoria where he was asked about criticism surrounding the drills, Lavrov said Russia had provided all necessary information regarding plans for the military exercises.
