The current crisis in Ukraine cannot be solved by weapons, only by people, said Othmar Karas, chair of the European Parliament (EP) delegation to the EU-Russia parliamentary cooperation committee.

Speaking on the sidelines of the EP plenary session this week in Strasbourg, Karas said in response media questioning that the "recipe for success is dialogue".

"We must discuss and solve problems together," he said. "This is why I am glad that the EU and the member states are putting a lot of effort and time into negotiations. When talks have no effect, the risk of military escalation will increase every day. I can only call on everyone involved to use every opportunity for negotiation."

Karas added that he was pleased that Alexey Pushkov, the chair of the Russian Parliament's international affairs committee, had visited the EP this week.

"The most important thing is that we are able to look each other in the eye and discuss problems instead of shooting at each other with weapons," he said, speaking of the meeting on Monday night between MEPs and Pushkov.

At the Monday meeting Pushkov said that "there is no military solution to the war", welcoming the peace plan presented by German Chancellor Angela Merkel and French President Francois Holland.

"This war can continue for a long time at a low intensity level," he said, but it could also widen and so represent "a significant problem for European security", referring to the possibility that the United States might supply arms to Ukraine.