During the negotiations, the parties discussed issues of the development of Russia-Lebanon relations, as well as the situation in the Middle East, in particular in Syria, and also the situation concerning Israel and Palestine.
On Syria
Michel Naim Aoun called the stabilization of the situation in the Middle East one of the priority tasks. He recalled that Lebanon borders on Syria, and there is a continuing crisis and war, so Lebanon has faced enormous economic problems. Thus, due to influx of migrants, Lebanon's population density has increased by 500%.
The President of Lebanon expressed hope that Russia will assist in solving the issue of the return of refugees to Syria. “Syrian residents have become hostages of the United States – they are not allowed to return home if certain conditions are not fulfilled,” said Michel Naim Aoun.
Viacheslav Volodin
Vyacheslav Victorovich
The Chairman of the State Duma of the Federal Assembly of the Russian Federation of the eighth convocation. Elected in single mandate constituency № 163 (Saratov constituency - Saratov Oblast)
stressed that “our country stands
against interfering in the affairs of sovereign states.” He also stated that
“it is necessary to abide by international treaties and agreements, be guided
by the decisions of the UN and the UN Security Council and manage relations on the principles of friendship, reciprocity, and respect for each other — only in this case it is possible to achieve results, avoiding conflicts, bringing peace
and strengthening global security.”
He noted the fact that Russia has done a lot in Syria to prevent a global catastrophe. The difference between the Russian Federation and the United States on their presence in Syria is huge, said Viacheslav Volodin. If Russian troops are on the territory of the Syrian Republic at the request of the legitimately elected government, the US presence there is illegal, the Chairman of the State Duma added.
“Either policy is based on respect for the choice of the people of other countries and sovereignty, or this can be called an aggression and unlawful interference in the affairs of sovereign states,” he said.
“US actions are prejudicial to global security, to previous agreements,” Viacheslav Volodin stressed.
“All that has been done for decades in the issues of achieving peace, maintaining a balance between different countries, somewhere delicate, somewhere difficult, built on dialogue and international agreements, today, we see the situation, when all this is falling apart due to the fact that the US leadership by its actions dismisses the previous agreements and takes decisions violating the UN resolution, international law, international agreements. No good can come of that,” said the Chairman of the State Duma.
Viacheslav Volodin proposed to hold a conference on refugee issues in Beirut. “I consider it is appropriate to explore the possibility of holding a conference in Beirut with representatives of the parliaments of Russia, European countries, Turkey, Iran, Syria and other countries on refugee issues and the settlement of the situation in Syria in connection with the actions taken by the United States,” he said.
On the Golan Heights
Michel Naim Aoun also condemned the decision of the US President Donald Trump to recognize Israeli sovereignty over the Golan Heights – a disputed territory on the border with Syria. “We believe that the leader of a foreign state has no right to authority over foreign territories in this way,” the President of Lebanon said and stressed that this decision is contrary to international law and the UN Security Council resolutions.
Viacheslav Volodin said that “if the world continues to follow the course of making such decisions, there can be such a situation where everyone will fight with each other.”
“The rule of force will prevail, and this is a straight way to war,” he stressed. The decision of the US President, as the Chairman of the State Duma said, “taken is disregard of the UN and the UN Security Council, so all countries should speak on this issue.”
The development of Russia-Lebanon relations
This is not the first visit of Michel Naim Aoun to Russia, but the first visit to the State Duma. The Lebanese President believes that this visit “is an opportunity to start anew to develop Russian-Lebanese relations.”
“We hope you will pay a reciprocal visit,” he said at the meeting with the Chairman of the State Duma.
Viacheslav Volodin accepted the invitation and, in his turn, extended an invitation to colleagues from the Parliament of the Lebanese Republic to visit Russia, “so that we can learn better about each other through dialogue, through communication.”
“That means that people of our countries will know each other better,” he stressed and added that it is necessary “to try to do everything to intensify our relations through the parliamentary dimension.”
Viacheslav Volodin believes that “the dialogue should be bolstered by new formats,” and in this regard, he invited colleagues from the Lebanese Parliament to visit the International Forum “Development of Parliamentarism”, which will be held in Moscow July 1–2 this year.
“Of course, we accept this invitation,” said Michel Naim Aoun.
