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Russian top diplomat says Syria cannot repeat Libya’s fate

"We are not on anybody’s side," Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov noted

ROME, December 2. /TASS/. Russia wants Syria to avoid the fate of Libya, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said on Friday speaking at the Mediterranean Dialogues conference.

"This is not personal friendship. We just want Syria to avoid the fate of Libya," he said.

"Otherwise, it will have to deal with the aftermath for years."

"We are not on anybody’s side," Lavrov added.

The international community cannot ignore terrorism threat after what has happened in Libya:

"Those who overthrew Muammar Gaddafi are now creating problems for a dozen African countries," he said.

Russia’s top diplomat has recalled that France sought permission from the UN Security Council to fight against extremists in Mali. "We always support issuing mandates to fight against terrorists. However, please do not forget who armed and supported these people in the hope of achieving a geopolitical goal of overthrowing Gaddafi," the minister said.

"We need to be consistent. You cannot do something that may later backfire on you like a boomerang. You should not seek regime change at the cost of cooperation with terrorists," Lavrov said, adding that the appropriate lessons need to be learned.