Ukraine must be "a neutral and benign state" to be Russia's neighbor for the long term, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said in an interview with Russian media on Thursday.

"It must be a friendly Ukraine. Not necessarily an ally, but a neutral and benign state," said Lavrov, according to the English version of the interview published by the Russian Foreign Ministry.

"This, of course, implies respect not only for the rights of the people in the territory that will remain part of Ukraine, not only respect for their rights to access basic necessities, such as warmth, food, and water, but also respect for their, if you will, fundamental human rights, including language, education, and religion," Lavrov said.

To reiterate, Ukraine that will sign the agreements must not assault international law and the Ukrainian Constitution, which guarantees the rights of ethnic minorities, he added.

Lavrov noted that Russia has repeatedly made clear to Washington that for Moscow, the priority in the Ukrainian settlement is not territory, but people: "Our priority is the people that have lived in these territories. The Russian people who speak and raise their children to speak Russian, who have developed these territories for centuries."

Lavrov said the Ukrainian peace settlement plan referenced by Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, parts of which Russia has only seen in fragments, makes no mention of restoring the rights of ethnic Russians and other national minorities, nor of upholding religious freedoms.

He stressed that linguistic and religious freedoms are enshrined in the UN Charter. "They cannot be used as bargaining chips."

The second round of U.S.-brokered talks between Russia and Ukraine concluded in Abu Dhabi, the capital of the United Arab Emirates, on Thursday, with both sides agreeing to a large-scale prisoner exchange but failing to achieve substantive breakthroughs on core issues such as territorial arrangements and a ceasefire.

Ukraine's National Security and Defense Council Secretary Rustem Umerov said the Ukrainian delegation sought a "dignified and lasting peace," without disclosing specific outcomes.