The United States' Special Representative for Ukraine Negotiations, Kurt Volker, is ready to discuss any issues pertaining to the Ukraine settlement process, including the delivery of so-called lethal weapons to Kyiv, with Russian presidential aide Vladislav Surkov.

The U.S. is prepared to discuss anything Surkov wants; that is the essence of the meeting, Volker told the online publication Gazeta.ru in an interview.

As to whether the delivery of lethal weapons from the U.S. may destabilize the already dangerous situation in Donbas, Volker said that Article 51 of the UN Charter gave every country the right to defend itself and that all of the hostilities are taking place on Ukrainian territory. He said he believes that Ukraine is entitled to protect itself.

On the subject of Kyiv's appeal either to modify or cancel the Minsk Agreements, Volker said that the U.S. wants those accords to be fulfilled, rather than rejected.

The U.S. hopes that consultations with Russia may set things in motion and help start the implementation of the Minsk Agreements and end the conflict, Volker said.

The implementation of the Minsk Agreements has not been efficient enough, he said.

Kremlin press secretary Dmitry Peskov said on Thursday that the Kremlin was not expecting the meeting between Surkov and Volker, due to take place in Belgrade on October 7, to bear any fruit.