At a press conference at the UN headquarters in New York, Lavrov said Moscow requested a meeting for 3 p.m. Wednesday New York Time (2000 GMT). But obviously the meeting has not been scheduled accordingly.

Lavrov said a Russian IL-76 transport aircraft was downed with 65 captured Ukrainian military servicemen on board together with three Russian officers and six crew members.

All people on board the plane died as a result of what he said was a terrorist attack by Ukraine.

Lavrov said an air defense missile launched by Ukraine from the Kharkiv region downed the plane in the Belgorod region.

The IL-76 was carrying the 65 captured Ukrainian soldiers from Moscow to Belgorod for a prisoner-of-war swap that had been agreed on between Moscow and Kiev.