OREANDA-NEWS. On May 13, a telephone conversation between Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Russian Federation Sergey Lavrov and Prime Minister Fouad Siniora of the Republic of Lebanon took place at the Lebanese side’s initiative.

The head of the Lebanese government informed the minister of the sharp exacerbation of the situation in Lebanon and of the threat of a polarization of Lebanese society and of a new outbreak of civil war. Siniora stressed that Lebanon is in need of Russia’s assistance in the restoration of peace and tranquility.

Sergey Lavrov expressed support for the constitutional institutions of Lebanon – the government, parliament and the national army. He spoke for the renunciation of violence and for a return to dialogue and the political means of achieving a settlement.

The minister also expressed support for efforts by the Arab League to overcome the present dangerous phase of the Lebanese crisis and to get the parties back on the path to an acceptable settlement for all Lebanese political and ethnoconfessional forces, and welcomed the sending to Beirut of a delegation of the Special Committee of the League of Arab States.