Russia backs Germany in bidding for membership of UN Security Council

Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov has said Russia is ready to support Germany in applying fora permanent seat on the UN Security Council, the Interfax news agency reported on Monday.

In an interview with Germany's newspaper Handelsblatt Lavrov said "We are ready to support Germany. We support it as strongly as we support India, Brazil and Japan as candidates for permanent membership in the UN Security Council, if a decision on enlarging the UN Security Council is made."

Referring to the Road Map peace plan for the Middle East, Lavrov thought the road map has not yet exhausted by itself and can help restore order in the Middle East.

"I do not think that the road map has reached a deadlock and the quartet of international mediators has exhausted its potential," Lavrov said in the interview, which was posted on the Foreign Ministry's website on Monday.

He recalled his trip to Israel three weeks ago and said "there is a sound ground to hope that the peace process will resume and Israel will prepare to withdraw from the Gaza Strip."

"This pullout should not represent a process outside the road map. Rather, it should create an environment for the next stages envisioned in the road map to be started by the Palestinians and Israel with the support of the quartet -- Egypt, Jordan and other Arab nations," Lavrov said.

In the interview Lavrov also pointed out that his country is todevelop relations with a wide range of countries in the world.

"Our foreign policy is governed by the need to develop relations between Russia and virtually all nations of the world that are ready for it," Lavrov said.

The minister said Russia will give priority to relations with its immediate neighbors, and that there can be only a multipolar world and the stability of the international system can be sustained only through a comprehensive way of developing relationsaround the globe.

"Russia's foreign policy is not centered on any country at the expense of others. It is a comprehensive policy," Lavrov said.

Source: Xinhua