Russia considers the current political events in Lebanon solely as an internal matter of the country and calls for achieving a national consensus without external interference, the official representative of the Russian Foreign Ministry, Maria Zakharova, stated on Thursday at a briefing, commenting on the resignation of the government of the Republic.
"We view the ongoing political events in Lebanon as its domestic affair. As always, we support its sovereignty, independence, unity and territorial integrity," she said.
Zakharova noted that Moscow on the people of Lebanon to resolve all urgent issues on the domestic agenda within the confines of the law, via a dialogue to reach a wide national consensus without interference from abroad.
"We believe that today all Lebanese politicians have to unite in order to overcome the aftermath of the disaster that took place in the port of Beirut and lead the country out of this long crisis together. First of all, they have to take joint steps in order to de-escalate tensions, renounce violence and prevent a further descent into chaos and to a point of no return," she added.
At the same time, the Russian side hopes that foreign states will help de-escalate tensions in Beirut. "We believe that the United Nations should take upon itself the mission of coordinating international efforts to support Lebanon in this situation," the diplomat noted.
Politicizing the topic of aid
At the same time, according to Zakharova, attempts by some forces to politicize the issue of providing financial assistance to Lebanon in their own interests are of concern.
"We believe that socioeconomic assistance to countries in need should be provided without any strings attached. Any prior conditions that infringe on national sovereignty and the prerogatives of the legitimate authorities are unacceptable. Moreover, considering the difficult domestic political situation in Lebanon, pushing for any unprepared reforms without consensus support can lead to further destabilisation and an uncontrollable escalation of violence," she stressed.
Zakharova added that Russia was doing everything possible in the interests of early normalization of the situation in friendly Lebanon.
GSV "Russia - Islamic World"
Photo: Alexander Shcherbak / TASS
Based on materials from TASS