Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said in remarks published on Friday that he saw no objective signs that Ukraine or the West were ready for peace talks despite all their increasingly loud statements about the need for such talks.

"The intervention of NATO troops in Ukraine is categorically unacceptable for Russia, it will turn into uncontrolled escalation," Russian Foreign Ministry spokesperson Maria Zakharova claimed.

Russia "will strive to make this decision part of the Alliance's policy," the state-controlled news agency quotes the diplomat as saying. Grushko described it as "one of the key elements of a possible agreement" and a component "related to eliminating the root causes" of Russia's war against Ukraine.