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Russia believes that the Middle Eastern drive for reforms should be supported

Support should be expressed in the form of a dialogue, but not outside interference

MOSCOW, February 6 (Itar-Tass) — The Middle Eastern drive for reforms should be supported, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said.

After the talks with Bahraini Foreign Minister Khaled bin Ahmed Al Khalifa on Monday, Lavrov said reforms in the Middle East were indispensable.

“The strive by the Middle East and North Africa peoples for a better life and changes should be supported in full. It is necessary to carry out reforms only through reforms and dialogue with the participation of all political forces without any interference from outside. Only peaceful means will make it possible to implement the agreements, which will benefit the peoples and the countries in the region,” the Russian minister said. “Moreover, it is unacceptable to provoke inter-confessional and inter-ethnic disagreements that can inevitably lead to civil war,” the minister stressed.

“Russia will actively back the Persian Gulf countries’ resoluteness towards solving the existing problems, primarily Iran’s nuclear problem. It can be done only by political means. Both Russia and Bahrain express hope for the efforts aimed at creating conditions for resuming the talks between the Sextet and Iran,” he said.

Lavrov recalled that he continued discussions on Russia’s proposal on a security concept in the Persian Gulf. He expressed gratitude to Bahrain for upholding this initiative.

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