External players shouldn't support any specific political forces in Arab countries - Lavrov
MOSCOW. Aug 7 (Interfax) - Russia is calling for lessons to be learned from the "Arab spring" amid the current events in Egypt and stop the support of specific parties in the conflict.
"We are concerned about the situation in Egypt. Conclusions should be drawn and lessons should be learned from the previous developments of events in this country and in other countries in the so-called Arab spring. We should stop encouraging specific political forces and acting against other political forces," Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov told a press conference following negotiations with his Ghanaian counterpart Hanna Tetteh.
"This tendency has been observed in the position of influential international players since the very beginning of the Arab spring," he said.
"We all now need to realize one thing: if we operate on the basis of the fundamental principle of international law that the fate of every country should be decided by its people, the international community should confirm this principle and do everything to encourage the political forces of each and every state - in this case, Egypt - to find a compromise and pursue national accord, work out agreements that will ensure equal rights for all political and religious groups, and will ensure comfortable existence of all these groups in their country," Lavrov said.
"There is no other way. We operate on this assumption when we contact representatives of various political forces in Egypt," the minister said.