Jumblat from Moscow: Russia Promised Financial Aid to Syrian Refugees in Lebanon

Progressive Socialist Party leader Walid Jumblat announced on Friday that Russia has promised to provide financial and political aid to resolve the crisis of refugees escaping the violence in Syria to Lebanon.

In remarks to LBCI TV following talks with Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov, Jumblat said: “Moscow will make a financial and political contribution to resolve the crisis of Syrian refugees in Lebanon.”

“There is no alternative to dialogue in Lebanon,” he said, adding any other suggestion does not serve any party in the country.

The all-party talks are the only guarantee to help Lebanon overcome its political crisis, he said.

The PSP chief also criticized the preconditions set by the March 14 opposition alliance on its participation in the national dialogue at Baabda Palace.

Moscow is keen on seeing Lebanon come out of its crisis, Jumblat told LBCI, reiterating that the government of Prime Minster Najib Miqati will not collapse.

“No one can abolish the other in Lebanon,” Russia Today quoted him as saying.

Asked about the situation in Syria, Jumblat advocated decisions reached at the Geneva conference in June.

A plan to end Syria's civil war agreed during talks among global powers and the U.N., envisages the establishment of a transitional government but it does not refer to President Bashar Assad going -- a key demand of the opposition.

Jumblat described the situation in Syria as “complicated.”