Russia, under various pretexts, ignores Ukraine's proposed steps to peacefully resolve the situation in Donbas, Spokesman for the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Ukraine Oleh Nikolenko has said.

"Ukraine is trying to involve Russia in the diplomatic process. For seven years, residents of the temporarily occupied territories of Donbas have already seen enough Russian military actions, grief and devastation. That is why our state constantly proposes steps to move from the place of a peaceful settlement. Russia ignores them under various pretexts," Nikolenko told Interfax-Ukraine on Monday.

He said the Ukrainian Foreign Ministry calls on Russia to finally stop thinking in terms of war.

"We expect it to fulfill in good faith the agreements of the Normandy format leaders' summit [Ukraine, Germany, France, Russia], reached in Paris in December 2019. We are talking about withdrawing forces and means from the contact line, observing the ceasefire, unblocking the operation of the entry-exit checkpoint, guaranteeing safe and reliable access of the OSCE Special Monitoring Mission throughout Ukraine, including the temporarily occupied territory, and the fulfillment of other provisions of the final document," the foreign minister said.

Nikolenko said that Ukraine strives for peace, justice and respect for international law.

"We are ready for a further meeting in the Normandy format without preconditions to move on. We hope that Russia will also agree to such a meeting. However, the Ukrainian side reserves the right to respond to offensive actions, shelling, armed provocations, as provided additional measures to strengthen the ceasefire from July 22, 2020," he said.