Elimination of Hezbollah, leads to destruction of Lebanon: Russian envoy

Russia's ambassador to Beirut said the effort to eliminate Hezbollah would lead to the destruction of Lebanon.

Iran PressMiddle East: Alexander Zasypkin, the Russian ambassador to Lebanon, whose mission has ended in the West Asian country, in an interview with Al Mayadeen stressed the need for cooperation of all Lebanese parties to resolve the current crisis.

He said that the solution to this crisis is an agreement between the influential parties; the plan to disarm Hezbollah in the face of new international aid is unacceptable.

Efforts to eliminate Hezbollah will lead to the destruction of Lebanon, Zasypkin stated.

He stressed that if the role of Hezbollah is excluded, security and stability are impossible. Hezbollah's battle alongside the Syrian army and Russian forces effectively played a role in changing Moscow's view of Hezbollah, opening up more grounds for dialogue and political cooperation. Russia and Hezbollah are in the same front in Syria, and this is in addition to the political dialogue that has established that Hezbollah has a regional role and their assessment of what is happening in the region and in Lebanon is really important.

Zasypkin praised the stance of Hezbollah Secretary General Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah and said he was waiting for Nasrallah's speeches to be informed of his stance on political developments.

His words are more important to me than anything else because his words carefully designed, he added.

Regarding the differences in the Arab world, Zasypkin stated that the reason for most of these differences is political, not sectarian. For instance, the fear of Iran's expansionist tendencies is an illusion to shift the focus from the Arab-Israeli conflict to the issue of confrontation between the Shia and Sunni people or Arab and Persians.

He went on to say that one of Russia's constant principles is to respect the sovereignty of other countries. For example, Moscow's goal in Syria is to support and restore the sovereignty of this country.

Russia seeks "balanced pluralism" in the world and "equal rights for all" in the face of Western hegemony, he stressed.

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