Zasypkin: Presidential Solution Comes through 'Improvement' of Christian Dialogue

Russian Ambassador to Lebanon Alexander Zasypkin has said that the election of a new president requires the development of dialogue among the rival Christian parties.

The Lebanese should resolve the presidential deadlock by finding what they have in common, the diplomat told As Safir daily in remarks published on Monday.

“This requires the improvement of the Christian dialogue,” he said.

Free Patriotic Movement leader MP Michel Aoun and Lebanese Forces chief Samir Geagea, both presidential candidates, are set to meet to discuss many issues, mainly the crisis at Baabda Palace.

MP Ibrahim Kanaan from Aoun's Change and Reform bloc told Voice of Lebanon (100.5) radio on Monday that the meeting will take place only after the two parties reach a final agreement on their working paper.

The document includes many issues, mainly those linked to the situation of Christians, he said.

Lebanon has been without a president since May when Michel Suleiman's six-year term ended in May. The rival parliamentary blocs failed to find a successor over their differences on a compromise candidate.

In his remarks to As Safir, Zasypkin described talks between Hizbullah and al-Mustaqbal Movement as positive.

The rival parties' representatives have held several rounds of dialogue since December with the aim of defusing Sunni-Shiite tension linked to the war in neighboring Syria.

The Russian Ambassador also hailed the measures taken by the Lebanese authorities to confront terrorist plots.

“We appreciate the role of the government, the army and security agencies,” he said.