MOSCOW, Dec. 16 (Xinhua) -- Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Sergei Ryabkov said that Russia will not make any concessions on the Donbas region or Crimea, and these are not up for discussion, Russian media reported on Tuesday.

According to the reports, Ryabkov told U.S. news outlet ABC in a recent interview that Moscow will not agree to the deployment of Western troops in Ukraine in any form.

Ryabkov noted that reaching a truly sustainable solution to the Ukraine crisis and addressing the root causes of the conflict would take a long time and be very difficult.

He added that there are obvious differences among the parties over possible solutions, and that the Russian side is willing to make efforts to overcome these differences. ■