MOSCOW, September 1 (Itar-Tass) —— The Libyan nation is the only one which should decide its own destiny, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said in his report at the traditional First-Year Student Day in the Moscow Institute of International Relations (MGIMO).
“It is the protection of the civilian population that was the main task set by the resolution of the U.N. Security Council, which NATO undertook to fulfil. We are sure that justice should not be administered together with injustice,” Lavrov said.
According to Lavrov, the experience of Iraq, Afghanistan and Libya shows that “in the long run, it is the nations themselves who should decide their destinies.”
He stressed that “Russia has never excused the former Libyan regime. President Dmitry Medvedev said firmly as early as in May that Muammar Gaddafi should resign from his post.”
A representative of the Russian Foreign Ministry reported on Thursday that Russia recognized the National Transitional Council of Libya as the current authority. “Russia points to the reforms programme, proclaimed by the National Transitional Council, which provides for the drafting of a new constitution, the holding of general elections and the formation of a government,” the Foreign Ministry representative stressed. “Our country established diplomatic relations with Libya on September 4, 1955, and has maintained them ever since. We never broke off the relations with Libya no matter what government was in power in Tripoli. We proceed from the assumption that all the treaties, signed by Russia and Libya, as well as other mutual commitments, will remain in effect in relations between the two countries and will be unfailingly observed.”