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UNSC should approve peacekeeping operation in Mali – FМ

Lukashevich said, “The political and humanitarian situation the north of Mali is anxious"

MOSCOW, June 9 (Itar-Tass) — The peacekeeping operation by the efforts of the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) and the African Union (AU) in Mali should be approved by the U.N. Security Council, Foreign Ministry spokesman Alexander Lukashevich said.

Commenting on an initiative by African states to unleash an armed intervention in order to restore law and order in the north of Mali, Lukashevich said, “The political and humanitarian situation the north of Mali is anxious. The scale of the internal conflict poses a threat to security and integrity of the country and stability in the whole region.”

“Russia supports the efforts by ECOWAS to settle the Mali conflict. We believe that there is the potential to settle the conflict by dialogue,” the spokesman said, adding that Russia “thinks that if the operation is deployed by ECOWAS or by other regional association, the U.N. Security Council should take a corresponding decision in strict compliance with the U.N. Charter,” the ministry stressed.