Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said Monday, Oct 20, that the United States is continuing its attempts to use the situation in Ukraine “to put Russia in its place.”

“No matter what Russia does, these attempts won’t stop regardless because it is not their main goal to reach a settlement in Ukraine, but to use Ukraine as an irritant in relations between Russia and Europe to put Russia in its place,” Lavrov said, according to RIA Novosti

Lavrov said that “all of these attempts are illusory.”

Earlier on Sunday, Lavrov said that Russia-U.S. relations had been impacted by the Ukrainian crisis, with certain aspects of the relations coming to a standstill. He noted that Washington was willing to resolve the existing problems, but its approach was aimed at serving U.S. interests alone.

However, the two countries keep working on a number of global issues, including the Middle East, Iran's nuclear program, UN Security Council agenda among other things, Lavrov said.

Western nations have implemented several rounds of economic sanctions against Russia over the Ukrainian crisis, targeting not only individuals but whole sectors of the Russian economy.

The situation in Ukraine has been a topic of discussion at a number of international meetings, the latest of which was the 10th Asia-Europe Meeting (ASEM) Summit in the Italian city of Milan.