Ambassador Andrei Kelin's interview with Laura Kuenssberg on BBC One

Key talking points:

• We do not want a ceasefire just to make a spectacular gesture, for publicity or for the media. We need a full-scale settlement, once and for all. So the ceasefire is the first step. But after that we need a serious framework for a treaty or an agreement, that will put an end to any escalation, any use of force in the area. We should live in peace here in Europe.

• The new announcement [by the UK and the EU] of packages of weapons for the Ukrainian army is not a path to peace.

• [Russia and the US] have entered into a political process [on the Ukraine conflict]. Sooner or later this peace process will bring us to a result, and one should not obstruct this political process. It is very important. Because at the moment the European Union, together with the United Kingdom, is doing everything to stop it.

• For us [the Ukraine conflict] is a question of our sovereignty, of whether we have keep our sovereignty or whether we will be subordinated to the Western desires and to the Western interests.

• Any NATO contingent on Ukrainian soil is not acceptable, whether in a treaty or otherwise. In any case, we will have to agree together on the overall framework and our consent will be needed for that.

• There is no threat at all to the UK from Russia. This threat has been invented. If the UK wants to continue to worsen relations [with Russia], to invent new threats ostensibly coming from Russia, which is not the case, that is up to the UK.

• The Foreign Influence Registration Scheme introduced in the UK is a humiliation for the Russian people who are in contact with the British citizens, because it will spoil our cultural, humanitarian, scientific and all other kinds of relations. It is an instrument of McCarthyism.