On May 16, Istanbul hosted the first round of direct talks on resolving the Ukraine conflict, Lavrov recalled. "When these talks resumed in Istanbul on May 16, we demanded that all those discriminatory laws be abolished and we will continue to do so at the next round of direct talks, to be announced soon," Russia’s top diplomat said, TASS reported.
There are laws banning the Russian language, culture, traditions and Russian-speaking media in Ukraine, Lavrov added. "Last year, a law banning canonical Orthodoxy, the canonical Ukrainian Orthodox Church was adopted," he continued.
"Therefore, yet another fundamental principle of the UN Charter was grossly violated, that all countries must guarantee human rights, regardless of the race, gender, language or religion," he said.