Russia's Lavrov criticises Ukraine statement on neutral status

Russia's Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov speaks to media in a news conference during a meeting of foreign ministers from the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) in Basel December 5, 2014. REUTERS/Arnd Wiegmann

MOSCOW (Reuters) - Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov criticised on Friday a statement by Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko on ending Ukraine's neutral status as confrontational rhetoric favoured by what Russia calls Kiev's 'party of war'.

"The draft law to reject Ukraine's neutral status as well as the order from Petro Alexeyevich Poroshenko about the economic blockade of the southeast (Ukraine) is a tribute to the rhetoric that the party of war in Kiev thirsts after," Lavrov told a news conference.