Minister of Foreign Affairs and Emigrants, Dr. Abdallah Bou Habib, on Friday received in his office the Ambassador of France, Anne Grillo, and the Ambassador of Germany, Andreas Kindle, who thanked Lebanon for the statement on the Ukrainian-Russian crisis.

Both Ambassadors also wished Lebanon will maintain its position and requested Lebanon’s participation in adopting and voting on the resolution submitted to the Security Council on the crisis at the General Assembly later.

Minister Bou Habib informed the French and German Ambassadors that “Lebanon’s position is consistent and stems from its keenness to adhere to the principles of international legitimacy and international law, which constitute the basic guarantee for the protection of international peace and order and the territorial integrity of small countries, especially since Lebanon has suffered greatly from the Israeli occupation and its continuous violations to-date.”

Minister Bou Habib also informed the German and French ambassadors, “Lebanon’s abstention from participating in the adoption of the resolution submitted to the Security Council, and that the Lebanese position regarding voting will be studied in the event that the resolution is referred to the General Assembly, in consultation with the Arab Group in this context.”

He said: “The Lebanese position is not directed against the Russian Federation or any other friendly country. Rather, it is a principled and firm position that Lebanon has taken and will take in every similar crisis.”

Bou Habib indicated that he met yesterday with the Ambassador of the Russian Federation to Lebanon, Alexander Rudakov, and expressed to him his regret that Lebanon is about to issue a statement condemning the Russian military operation. “We stressed that this position is not directed against his country, and we do not want it to affect the solid bilateral relationship,” he added.

The Foreign Minister pointed out that the meetings he held with the Ambassadors of Ukraine, Poland, Romania, France and Germany came in the context of discussing the topic of the possibility of evacuating the Lebanese from Ukraine according to the development of the security situation.

On the other hand, Minister Bou Habib received this morning the United Nations Special Representative of the Secretary General on Sexual Violence in Conflict, Pramila Patten.

Source: National News Agency – Lebanon