ADDIS ABABA, September 17. /ITAR-TASS/. The settlement of conflicts on the African continents must proceed under the auspices of the African Union with support of the international community and basing on the UN Charter, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said on Wednesday.

“We are confident that Africans themselves will be able better than anyone else to streamline a dialogue in Mali, Democratic Republic of Congo, the Central African Republic and other countries where conflicts continue,” the top Russian diplomat added.

“A couple of years ago the world community failed to support African Union’s initiative on the settlement of a conflict in Libya. Russia was ready to support it, but our western colleagues refused to do this,” he said.

“As a result, instead of a peaceful settlement through a national dialogue, we received a civil war and a threat of terrorism spreading to neighbouring countries,” Lavrov added.

He said conflict settlement must be based on respect for international law and renunciation of unilateral actions, especially connected with the use of force.