MADRID—The deals reached between the previous Ukrainian government and the then-opposition in late February must be respected, Russia's foreign minister Sergei Lavrov said Wednesday.
"The Feb. 21 accords are there to be implemented. I don't think anyone should fool themselves and start things over from scratch," Mr. Lavrov told reporters here, after a meeting with his Spanish counterpart, Jose Manuel Garcia-Margallo.
On Feb. 21 the Ukrainian president and opposition leaders reached agreement on the settlement of the crisis in the country. Under the terms of the agreement, Ukraine was supposed to pass a law restoring the 2004 constitution with amendments made by that time.
The comments from Russia's senior diplomat come after President Vladimir Putin said Tuesday he didn't see any immediate need to send troops further into Ukraine, but that Moscow reserves the right to use force to protect its interests there, a point reiterated by Mr. Lavrov who said that Russians in the neighboring country must be protected.
On Tuesday, Mr. Lavrov told United Nations Human Rights Council in Geneva that the rights of Russians and Russian speakers in Ukraine have been threatened since Viktor Yanukovych was ousted as president last month. He said Ukraine's new government had an anti-Moscow agenda and would persecute ethnic Russians within the country.
Turning to the issue of sending international observers to Ukraine, Mr. Lavrov said this should be addressed to Ukrainian authorities including those who are currently in charge of the situation in Crimea, rather than to Moscow.
The Ukrainian authorities "are in charge of preserving order, taking care of the living situation of the population there," though the parliament isn't currently in control of the situation across the whole country so local Crimean authorities should be consulted, he said.
Western leaders, including the U.S. President Barack Obama, have repeatedly said that Russia should allow international observers in Ukraine to defuse tension and ease Moscow's concerns over the well-being of Russians in Crimea. he said that Moscow has no control over the militias there
Mr. Lavrov also said that talks about placing a U.S. missile defense system in Ukraine in exchange for financial aid would only serve to stoke tensions between Russia and the West.
EU leaders are to meet to discuss the crisis on Thursday.