Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov has urged the UN to investigate U.S. media reports about arms contraband from Libya to Syria amongst others.
"If this is true, this is a gross violation of the UN Security Council ban on arms deliveries to and from Libya," he told a press conference after negotiations with his Moroccan counterpart Saad-Eddine AL-Othmani on Friday.
"The Security Council committee authorized to observe the compliance with this embargo should naturally pay attention to the reports and make an inquiry," the minister emphasized.
Russia and Morocco constructively cooperate in UN on Syria and other international issues - Lavrov
"Russia and Morocco constructively cooperate in UN and other organizations on Syria and many other international issues. We are preparing joint documentation package that will strengthen contractual legal framework," said Russian Foreign minister Sergei Lavrov during the joint discussions with his Moroccan counterpart Saad Addin Al-Osmani in Moscow, Voice of Russia correspondent reports.
Speaking about the situation in Syria, Sergei Lavrov said that “Russia and Morocco constructively cooperate in UN and other organizations on Syria and many other international issues”.
"Initially Russia and the US agreed on holding Geneva-2 talks without any preconditions, but now the opposition claims to observe “the military balance”, Lavrov added.
In its turn Saad Addin Al-Osmani replied, that “Thanks to Russia’s constructive stand in UN we managed to get relative stability in Mali”, and added that “Morocco and Russia share their stance on settling of a crisis in Syria”. Al-Osmani stressed that Rabat supports holding the Geneva-2 talks on Syria.
Speaking about holding the Geneva-2 talks on Syria, Sergei Lavrov said, that "Initially Russia and the US agreed on holding Geneva-2 talks without any preconditions, but now the opposition claims to observe “the military balance”.
"Russia insists on holding a conference in the parameters that were discussed initially, and the fact that the Western countries are now supplying weapons may mean that they support the existence of pre-conditions. I will ask US Secretary of State, John Kerry, about the emerging issues on the subject during my visit to Brunei next week," Lavrov said.
"I hope that the joint stand of the Group of Eight at Lough Erne will be observed by the G8 members and by those countries that participate in the settlement of the Syrian crisis," Lavrov added.
Lavrov overturned the Guardian reports that the Russian embassy in Damascus would close on July 1. “These are rumors and speculations,” Lavrov said.
Lavrov also denied the reports that the Russian base in Tartus is closing. “The embassy and the base are working in routine mode”, Lavrov said.
Speaking about war on terrorism Sergei Lavrov noted that “we are preparing joint memorandum on antiterrorism protection, and probably we will sign it during my visit to Morocco”.
Syria, Middle East and North Africa on agenda of Lavrov and Al-Osmani talks in Moscow
The Ministers of Foreign Affairs of Russia and Morocco, Sergei Lavrov and Saad Addin Al-Osmani, are holding discussions on topical problems of bilateral relations, as well as the situation in the Middle East and North Africa, in Syra, in particular, the Voice of Russia correspondent reported. The Moroccan Minister is currently in Russia on a working visit.
"This is your third arrival in Russia over the past 18 months, we are glad for having such intensive contacts," Sergei Lavrov said greeting his Moroccan counterpart.
Prior to the visit, Russian Foreign Ministry spokesman Alexander Lukashevich said "During the forthcoming talks, the sides will devote special attention to themes regarding bilateral relations".
"For many years, Morocco has been among Russia's three leading trading partners in Africa. We take note of the progressive growth of goods turnover, which ran at $1.8 billion in 2012, which was almost twice as high as the 2010 indicator. We single out sea fisheries as an important and promising area of mutually beneficial economic partnership," the diplomat said.
"We attach much importance to an intensification of the work of the mixed intergovernmental commission for economic, scientific and technical cooperation, the commission which is co-chaired on the Morocan side by Saad Addin Al-Osmani," Lukashevich pointed out. "A regualar session of the Commission is due to be held in Morocco in the current year".
"We are interested in a substantive discussion with the Moroccan Minister of key matters that are on the international and regional agendas, with due regard for Morocco's status of a Non-Permanent Member of the UN Security Council in the current year," the Russian Foreign Ministry spokesman said. "We expect a useful exhange of views on the situation in the region of the Middle East and North Africa, specifically that in Syra, as well as in Sahara-Sahel zone, the Middle East peace process, Western Sahara, and other themes that are of mutual interest," Lukashevich emphasized.
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