Foreign Ministry Sergei Lavrov said on Monday Ukraine's Russian-speaking eastern regions should be involved in drafting the constitution that should be put to a referendum, mooted by Kiev, on the type of state Ukraine should be.
Speaking at a news conference after meeting his Sudanese counterpart, Lavrov said it was not in Russia's interests for Ukraine to break up, but that Moscow wanted all citizens of the country to be given equal treatment by Kiev.
He denied Ukrainian and U.S. allegations that Russia had undercover agents fomenting unrest in eastern Ukraine, and said he was seeking explanation of media reports that the director of the CIA, John Brennan, had visited Kiev.
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