Russia hopes that resolving the issue with the UN Secretary-General's Special Envoy on Libya, which is to be appointed in the next few days, will help the organization play a more constructive role in the Libyan issue, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said at the press conference on Thursday following talks with Saudi Arabian Foreign Minister Faisal bin Farhan Al Saud.
He noted that Russia supports UN efforts to facilitate a Libyan settlement. "The protracted pause with the appointment of a new Special Representative of the Secretary-General for Libya did not help. Now it seems that this issue will be resolved in the very next few days. We hope that this will allow our colleagues from the UN to play a more constructive role in these matters," Lavrov said.
The Russian Foreign Minister also noted the need to help build a "truly inclusive" intra-Libyan dialogue.
The UN Security Council was substantially divided over the appointment of a successor to the organization's previous Special Envoy on Libya, Ghassan Salame, following his resignation in March. In September, the UN Security Council decided that the position of UN Special Envoy to Libya would be replaced by a special envoy of the Secretary-General. Bulgarian diplomat Nikolay Mladenov was nominated for the position, and all 15 UNSC countries were satisfied with his candidacy, but Mladenov refused for personal reasons.
GSV "Russia - Islamic World"
Photo: Russian Foreign Ministry
Based on materials from TASS