Moscow considers the situation in Lebanon to be an internal affair of the country and calls on all political forces to engage in dialogue, Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova said on Thursday
MOSCOW (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 13th August, 2020) Moscow considers the situation in Lebanon to be an internal affair of the country and calls on all political forces to engage in dialogue, Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova said on Thursday.
"We call for resolving all acute issues of the domestic political agenda by the Lebanese themselves, in the legal field, through a dialogue with access to a broad national consensus without external interference," Zakharova said at a briefing.
Lebanese politicians should unite in order to jointly overcome the consequences of the disaster in the port of Beirut and lead the country out of the crisis, she said.
"First of all, to take joint steps in the interests of reduction of tensions and renunciation of violence, as well as to prevent the situation from further slipping into chaos and a point of no return," the spokeswoman said.
External players should not politicize aid to Lebanon and interfere in internal political processes, she stressed.
"We hope that foreign states will help reduce the intensity of fever pitch in Beirut and achieve a compromise between the Lebanese, and not vice versa," Zakharova said.
The UN should take over coordination of international efforts in support of Lebanon, she said.
"At the same time, the attempts of some potential international donors in the interests of implementing their own geopolitical agenda to politicize the topic of providing financial assistance to Lebanon is worrying," Zakharova noted.
She stressed that the issues of promoting the economic development of countries in need should not be hedged with conditions that actually infringe on the country's sovereignty.
"Taking into account the already difficult internal political situation in Lebanon, pushing through any unprepared or consensus-lacking support for reforms is fraught with further destabilization and increased violence," she concluded.
