Hariri Meets Lavrov in Moscow
Al-Mustaqbal Movement chief ex-PM Saad Hariri held talks on Wednesday with Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov, his press office said.
Al-Liwaa daily quoted a Russian diplomatic source as saying that the preparations for the previously unannounced visit began almost two weeks ago as part of Russian-U.S. cooperation to come up with a roadmap to end the presidential vacuum.
Lavrov and U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry, who was in Moscow last week, have agreed to contact the heads of prominent Lebanese parliamentary blocs, said the sources.
They have also agreed to create diplomatic contacts with Riyadh, Tehran, the Vatican and Paris to “end the reasons that have so far delayed the election of a president,” the sources told al-Liwaa.
Interfax news agency quoted Hariri as saying that Lebanon is ready for cooperation with Russia in the military and other fields.
He also said Syria should remain a unified state and Syrian President Bashar Assad cannot be part of the final solution to the Syrian crisis.
Hariri's press office said that the lawmaker landed in Moscow on Tuesday night. He is accompanied by Interior Minister Nouhad al-Mashnouq and his advisers Ghattas Khoury and Nader Hariri.
Lebanon has been without a head of state since May 2014 when the term of President Michel Suleiman ended.
The presidential race is mainly confined to Change and Reform bloc chief MP Michel Aoun and Marada leader MP Suleiman Franjieh. There is also centrist candidate MP Henri Helou.
However, not a single candidate is able to garner the needed votes to be elected president.
Sessions aimed at electing a head of state are being adjourned over lack of the required two-thirds quorum of the 128-member parliament.
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