There is no military solution to the conflict in Libya, the parties must settle the problems at the talks, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said.
"Russia has consistently assumed all these years that the Libyan conflict has no military solution and that all contradictions can and should be resolved by political means at the negotiating table by the Libyans themselves," he said at a meeting with the speaker of the ruling House of Representatives in Eastern Libya (Parliament) Aguila Saleh.
At the same time, Lavrov recalled that Russia called for an immediate cessation of hostilities in Libya and the beginning of a political dialogue.
"We fully supported then and continue to support your proposal for an immediate cessation of hostilities and the beginning of a political dialogue, which should result in the formation of new unified authorities based on equal representation of the three historical regions of Libya," Lavrov said.
The "Cairo initiative" for a settlement in Libya can become the basis for the start of an inter-Libyan dialogue, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said.
"We also drew attention to the document called the "Cairo Declaration", which was announced by the President of Egypt, Mr. (Abdel Fattah) el-Sisi on June 6 during your visit to Egypt. And we believe that this initiative of Cairo fits into the framework of the decisions of the international conference on Libya in Berlin and may well form the basis of inter-Libyan discussions on the implementation of your initiative," the Russian Foreign Minister said.
During the meeting, Sergey Lavrov said that Russia was resuming the work of the Embassy in Libya, it would represent the interests of the Russian Federation throughout the country, while it would be based in Tunisia.
"I would like to conclude my opening remarks by informing you that we have decided to reopen the Russian Embassy in Libya, which will be headed at this stage by the Charge d'affaires, Mr. Jamshed Boltaev, who is present here. We present him to you," he said.
Lavrov added that "it will temporarily be based on the territory of Tunisia."
"But I want to emphasize that its function is to represent Russia in all areas of Libya," the head of the Russian Foreign Ministry said.
Aguila Saleh, in turn, welcomed Russia's mediation in the settlement in Libya.
"We confirm to you that there is no military solution to the crisis in Libya," Saleh said.
He also noted that "the political openness of Russian diplomacy to all actors in international relations, including the Arab and Islamic world, makes your country an acceptable and effective mediator in resolving international crises."
"We are convinced of this by watching your efforts to resolve the Libyan crisis," Saleh said.
During the meeting, the parties also touched upon the issue of the Palestinian-Israeli settlement. Moscow considers it necessary to immediately restart direct negotiations between Palestine and Israel under the auspices of the Quartet of international mediators, Lavrov said.
"We believe that today, more than ever, the efforts of the international community to create conditions for the immediate resumption and restart of direct Palestinian-Israeli negotiations under the auspices of the Quartet of international mediators and with the active participation of Arab States are in demand," he said.
GSV "Russia - Islamic World"
Photo: Russian Foreign Ministry
Based on materials from RIA Novosti