Russian Foreign Minister
Sergey Lavrov said Wednesday that Moscow was ready to assist
Italy in its efforts to stabilise Libya.
"I understand how important the problem of Libya is for
Italy, both for geographic and historical reasons," Lavrov told
a meeting with Italian reporters.
"We reiterate our understanding and we are ready to help.
(Russian President Vladimir) Putin has told (Italian Premier
Matteo) Renzi this".
Chaos in Libya, where two conflicting governments claim to
be the legitimate powers, has been blamed for the deterioration
in the Mediterranean migrant crisis and there are concerns about
the spread of ISIS in the former Italian colony.
"I don't know if (ISIS leader Abu Bakr) al-Baghdadi is in
Libya, but we have information that ISIS in (the Libyan city of)
Sirte and that his cells are there in addition to the local
militias and that Sirte is becoming a branch of (ISIS's
'capital' in Syria) Raqqa," Lavrov said.
"This raises concerns. It's important for al-Baghdadi to
show that his project is a success with the continual expansion
of the caliphate".
Lavrov also said Italy, whose position on Russia on issues
including the Ukraine crisis has been softer than other Western
States, was a key partner for Moscow.
"We greatly value the relations between Russia and Italy
because they are of a particularly strategic nature," he said.
"The relationship is not just on paper, it's rooted in the
countries' reciprocal fellings about how we live life and about
how we want to build relations with Europe".
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