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Situation in Libya

Allegations against Russia on Libya not corroborated by facts — Foreign Minister Lavrov

Some media earlier claimed that Russia uses Syria as a foothold to move arms and mercenaries to Libya

Libya's capital, Tripoli AP Photo/Felipe Dana

Libya's capital, Tripoli

© AP Photo/Felipe Dana

DAMASCUS, September 7. /TASS/. Media publications claiming that Russia uses Syria as a foothold to move arms and mercenaries to Libya are not proven by any facts, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said during a press conference in the wake of his visit to Damascus.

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"As for Libya, I would like to reiterate: some allegations are constantly being put forward against Russia, both regarding Libya and other countries, from Africa to Europe and the US. No facts have ever been presented to us," he said.

The fact that such statements get straight into the media, without employing bilateral and multilateral mechanisms to clarify concerns, raises questions about their authors’ intent, Lavrov said.

Back in the day, Russia supported introduction of the weapons embargo against Libya via a special UN Security Council resolution, he recalled.

"We remember how, mere months thereafter, certain European countries announced publicly, via their General Staffs and military representatives, without any shame, that they support the extremists against [Muammar] Gaddafi and ship weapons to those extremists," Lavrov pointed out.

The top diplomat added that the Berlin conference on Libya, which took place in January, confirmed the necessity of the weapons embargo, and the conference’s outcome was cemented in another UN Security Council resolution.

The weapons embargo on Libya was introduced by the UN Security Council on February 26, 2011.

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