Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov on Saturday took part in the Antalya Diplomacy Forum. The top diplomat spoke on the settlement of the Ukrainian conflict, praised US President Donald Trump's understanding of the conflict's root causes, and emphasized the potential for improved Russia-US relations.

The United States acknowledges that territorial disputes and other root causes of the Ukrainian conflict need to be addressed during the peace process, Lavrov noted.

"They [the Americans] also mention now another thing that is related to the root causes, namely territorial issues... They recognize that territorial issues would have to be handled in the context of long-lasting settlement, and they would like to do it," he said.

Donald Trump is the only Western leader to recognize the need to address the root causes of the conflict, the Russian top diplomat noted.

"When we speak about eliminating root causes of any conflict, including Ukrainian conflict, this is the only way to resolve the problem and establish long-lasting peace - remove root causes. President Trump was the first and so far, I think, the only one among the Western leaders who repeatedly, with conviction, several times stated that it was a huge mistake to pull Ukraine into NATO. This is one of the root causes which we quoted so many times," Lavrov pointed out.

There is still potential for progress in relations between Russia and the United States, according to the foreign minister.

"We discuss bilateral relations, starting with the normalization of the conditions in which our embassies work ... The embassy activities, issuing visas in a certain time frame, so that diplomats don't wait for years to get the visa ... And yes, we want to see what joint projects we can consider and discuss together. This was the proposal from the Americans. We never, you know, rejected proposals to cooperate," he explained.

Speaking on the Ukrainian settlement, Lavrov noted that Russia is primarily concerned with people, not territories.

Other statements from the Russian Foreign Minister:

Zelensky's statements about sending peacekeepers and foreign troops in Ukraine are "clearly schizophrenic;"

EU forces in Ukraine are solely intended to protect the Nazi regime in Kiev;

Germany, France, and the UK are preparing for a new war. They are focused on this goal by leading the Euro-Atlantic community;

The Biden administration's policy of isolating Russia has been "stupid, to say the least;"

The global economy could experience "new twists and turns;"

Multipolarity is "gaining strength, there is no doubt about that."

Key Takeaways From Russian FM Lavrov's Speech at Antalya Diplomacy Forum in Turkey