MOSCOW, May 27 -- Russia is ready to cooperate with everyone who desires a faster solution to Ukraine's crisis, Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said Tuesday.

"Moscow has been interested in a sooner settlement in Ukraine and Russia is ready to cooperate with everyone who wants the same," Lavrov told reporters, referring to Ukraine's possible incoming president Petro Poroshenko.

To that end, interests of the entire Ukrainian nation must be taken into account, including the "lawful demands" of the southeastern regions, he said.

He said Moscow was not considering a visit of Poroshenko to Russia at the moment, adding that the billionaire would hardly be welcomed in Ukraine's eastern regions unless Kiev stops a military operation there.

At least 40 people, including two civilians, have been killed in fierce fighting between armed activists and government troops in Ukraine's eastern city of Donetsk since Monday, local authorities said.

On Monday, Poroshenko said that once sworn in office, he would end violence in Ukraine's eastern regions, harmonize relationship with Russia, forge ties with the European Union (EU), and resolve the dispute with Moscow over the status of Crimea.

Lavrov also accused the West of attempting to mount pressure on Moscow, saying it "blames Russia for nearly every conflict anywhere in the world."

"When the EU and the United States led the situation (in Ukraine) to the dead end, they started to blame us (for inciting tension)," the Interfax news agency quoted him as saying.

Noting that the European Council was to decide on further measures against Moscow, Lavrov said no such attempts to pressure Russia have ever succeeded.