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Ukraine must have real, not cosmetic, constitutional reform - Russia


    MOSCOW (Reuters) - Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said on Friday Ukraine must carry out "real" rather than "cosmetic" constitutional reform and prove its independence from the West.

    "One needs to deal with real constitutional reform, not just cosmetic, and in order (to achieve that) one needs to stop meddling in the internal affairs of Ukraine," he said at a joint news conference with other members of the Commonwealth of Independent States, a bloc of former Soviet states.

    "Otherwise it looks like the West has taken up the role of arbiter of Ukraine's fate, while the current authorities ... lack significant independence."

    (reporting by Alexei Anishchuk, writing by Elizabeth Piper, editing by Lidia Kelly) nL5N0MW1SG