BEIRUT, April 27. /TASS/. Talks with Israel are geared to save Lebanon and reach a ceasefire, Lebanese President Joseph Aoun said.

"We want to put an end to the war with Israel and sign a truce agreement like the one that was reached in 1949," the presidential press service quoted him as saying.

He stressed that the decision to engage in talks with Israel is not a surrender or treason. "As a president, I bear responsibility for this step and will never accept a humiliating agreement with Israel," he pledged.

Aoun’s statement came as a response to Hezbollah leader Sheikh Naim Qassem’s accusations that the Lebanese government is making too many concessions to Israel.

The Lebanese president called on those who are criticizing the authorities to wait for the results of the negotiations. "They say that we have engaged with Israel without a nationwide consensus," he said. "In response, we ask these critics: did you have any consensus when you dragged Lebanon into the war in support for Iran?"

According to Aoun, he rejects any war in the interests of third parties. "What we are doing is not treason. Treason is what is being done by those who are dragging their country in a conflict for the sake of foreign countries," he said.