MOSCOW. Aug 13 (Interfax) - Moscow has warned against politicizing the subject of assisting Lebanon, whose capital was rocked by powerful explosions on August 4, Russian Foreign Ministry spokesperson Maria Zakharova said.
"We're concerned by the attempts of certain potential international donors to politicize, in the interest of their own geopolitical agenda, the topic of financial assistance for Lebanon. We believe that the matter of socio-economic assistance to destitute countries should not be preconditioned to the detriment of their national sovereignty and the prerogatives of the legitimate government," Zakharova said during an online press briefing on Thursday.
Given the current difficult political situation inside Lebanon, "pushing for any ill-prepared or not consensus-backed reforms risks further destabilization and more violence, possibly even unchecked," she said.
Moscow regards what is currently happening in Lebanon as that country's internal affair, Zakharova said.
"We're calling for all acute domestic issues to be solved by the Lebanese themselves within the framework of the law, through dialogue, and with broad national consensus without outside intervention," she said.