Situation in Lebanon Should Be Settled Without Foreign Interference - Moscow

A Russian Deputy foreign minister has held a meeting with his Lebanese counterpart Ghassan Hasbani amid a political crisis in Lebanon after the shock resignation of former Prime Minister Saad Hariri.

"The Russian side stressed the need to resolve all urgent issues on the national agenda by the Lebanese themselves, without outside interference, through dialogue, with account for the interests of all major political forces of that multi-confessional country," the Russian Foreign Ministry has stated, commenting on the meeting between Deputy Foreign Minister Mikhail Bogdanov and his Lebanese counterpart Ghassan Hasbani.

Previously, Moscow has voiced concern over the shock resignation of former Prime Minister Saad Hariri and urged all external forces that could influence the situation in Lebanon to show restraint and constructive approaches.

Hariri's Resignation

Hariri, who served as prime minister from 2009 to 2011 and took the office again in November 2016 — announced his resignation in a video address from Saudi Arabia on November 4, expressing fears that he could be assassinated, like his father, in Lebanon, as well as accusing Tehran and the Iran-backed Hezbollah movement of alleged attempts to destabilize the situation in Lebanon as well as across the Middle East, a claim strongly denied by the Islamic Republic as groundless.

Most recently, the country's president, Michel Aoun, has accused Saudi Arabia of holding Hariri and his family, adding that the alleged detention of Saad Hariri a breach of human rights.

READ MORE: Saad Hariri Says on Twitter He Will Return to Lebanon in Two Days

Nevertheless, Hariri himself yet again reaffirmed in a tweet that he would return to Lebanon in the next few days, adding that he was "perfectly fine."