No military solution to Ukraine conflict: Russian lawmaker

"There is no military solution to this war," declared Alexey Pushkov, Chair of the Committee on International Affairs of the Russian Duma, speaking on Monday about the ongoing conflict in Eastern Ukraine.

Pushkov spoke as part of an evening debate being held by the European Parliament's Committee on Foreign Affairs, following an invitation by committee chairman Elmar Brok.

The Russian parliamentarian spoke to the meeting in a conciliatory tone, stressing the need for a political solution as the means to end violence.

"Although emotions are flying high and this is a time when accusations make politics, I still think we should make anew," he said.

Brok also signaled that his committee would like to find diplomatic solutions to the conflict.

"This committee has always held relations with Russia to be very important," he said during his introduction, "and we would be willing to waive sanctions if we can see that negotiations are underway."

The debate came at a time when tensions are extremely high between Russia and the West, with Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov declaring on Saturday to the Munich Security Conference in Germany that the Strategic Partnership between the European Union and Russia had not passed a stress test.

"Despite the current situation, we don't consider the European Union as our enemy," Pushkov declared.

Brok, though, called on Russia to take a more active role in ending the unrest.

"Russia has to accept that it is a party to the conflict," he said, "and I hope it will shoulder its responsibility to solve it."

The European Parliament is currently sitting in its plenary session, scheduled to run from Monday, Feb. 9, until Thursday, Feb. 12. Endit