MOSCOW (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 21st July, 2020) Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said on Tuesday that Moscow intended to continue promoting security and peace in the Persian Gulf.
"The only way [to promote peace] is to not create some kind of a coalition like the middle Eastern branch of NATO, what our US colleagues are basically suggesting at the moment. This, again, is a confrontational approach based on a desire to isolate someone and to continue to impose a confrontational approach in this key region," Lavrov told reporters after meeting with Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif in Moscow earlier in the day.
The top Russian diplomat went on to say that Moscow's peace initiative included a regional cooperation approach to bring together all coastal countries that can contribute to this process.
"We suggest that external players, including permanent members of the UN Security Council, as well as the European Union, the Arab League and the Organization of Islamic Cooperation participate in this process. I think that this is the approach that will ultimately prevail because otherwise, it is simply impossible to ensure sustainable, stable development in the region for the benefit of all the nations living there," Lavrov noted.
This was Zarif's 30th official visit to Russia overall and the third over the past six months. The last time the Iranian foreign minister was in Moscow was in mid-June.
