"Recently, the French foreign minister said France was prepared to discuss with its coalition partners the supply of arms for the Libyan opposition," Lavrov told reporters in reference to Tuesday`s London conference on the crisis.
"Immediately thereafter, the NATO Secretary General Fogh Rasmussen declared that the operation in Libya was being staged to protect the population and not to arm it -- and here, we completely agree with the NATO Secretary General."
French Foreign Minister Alain Juppe said during Tuesday`s meeting that his country was prepared to discuss with its allies supplying military aid to Libyan rebels fighting Moamer Kadhafi`s forces.
US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton said the issue of arming the rebels was not discussed in London while stressing that Washington`s interpretation of UN Security Council resolution 1973 "overrode the absolute prohibition on arms to anyone in Libya."
Russia abstained from the Security Council vote on the measure and argued that the strikes now being staged by the alliance were excessive and leading to civilian casualties.
But Lavrov reiterated on Wednesday that Russia also believed that the time had come for Kadhafi to step down and allow the Libyan people to decide their new form of government.
"Without a doubt, the time for reforms has come," Russia`s top diplomat said.
"Clearly, it will be a different regime. Clearly, it has to be a democratic regime -- but this is something the Libyans themselves must decide without foreign interference."
Lavrov added that the introduction of a ceasefire and the start of political negotiations "is a priority".
(U.KR-PPT/B002)
Editor: Priyambodo RH
Copyright © ANTARA 2011
