Former President of the Progressive Socialist Party (PSP) Walid Joumblatt (left) and Russian head of diplomacy Sergei Lavrov. (Credit: NNA)
Russia has expressed its "rejection of further escalation in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict and the involvement of other countries in the region, including Lebanon," Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov told Druze leader Walid Joumblat, ex-president of the Progressive Socialist Party (PSP), whom he received in Moscow, the official National News Agency (NNA) reported on Friday.
The meeting took place in the presence of Joumblatt's wife, Nora, former minister Ghazi Aridi, and Lebanon's ambassador to Russia, Chawki Abou Nassar.
The two men "exchanged views on the crisis in the Middle East," and the Russian head of diplomacy reiterated "Russia's unchanged position of support for Lebanon's sovereignty, unity and peace on its territory."
Lavrov also stressed, "the need for the Lebanese to find solutions as quickly as possible to urgent matters on the national agenda, based on consensus without foreign interference." However, he made no clear reference to the presidential election, which is at a standstill in Lebanon. Members of parliament have still not elected a successor to Michel Aoun, whose term of office expired on Oct. 31, 2022.
At the latest meeting of the UN Security Council, China and Russia accused the United States of adding fuel to the fire in the conflict between Israel and Hamas. Following the Palestinian movement's bloody attack on Israel on Oct. 7, Israel is conducting a vast military operation in the Gaza Strip, where 27,947 people have been killed and 67,459 wounded, according to the latest figures from the local Ministry of Health.