Representatives of Gaddafi's government were expected in Moscow on Tuesday and Russia also hoped to host Libyan rebel envoys soon, foreign minister Sergei Lavrov said on Monday.
Representatives of Muammar Gaddafi's government were expected in Moscow on Tuesday and Russia also hoped to host Libyan rebel envoys soon, foreign minister Sergei Lavrov said on Monday.
"We agreed meetings in Moscow with representatives of both Tripoli and Benghazi. Envoys from Tripoli will be here tomorrow. Envoys from Benghazi were supposed to be here on Wednesday, but as they informed us, they were forced to ask us to postpone this visit for technical reasons," Lavrov was quoted by the Itar-Tass news agency as saying.
"We hope it will take place in the foreseeable future," Lavrov said, casting Russia as a potential peacemaker.
"We are ready to conduct dialogue with all," state-run Itar-Tass quoted him as saying at a meeting in Moscow with the UN envoy for Libya, Abdelilah al-Khatib.
Lavrov repeated Russia's call for an end to fighting in Libya and the start of talks.
"Moscow is very, very interested in the swiftest halt to the bloodshed in Libya and for a shift of the situation into the channel of political dialogue.
Earlier on Monday, the International Criminal Court prosecutor requested arrest warrants for Gaddafi, his son Saif al-Islam and the country's intelligence chief on charges of crimes against humanity.
Although Moscow appeared set on establishing a diplomatic conduit out of Libya's civil war, analysts were sceptical.
"I think if an agreement doesn't begin with Gaddafi and his immediate family leaving office it isn't going to fly with the opposition or with NATO," said David Hartwell, Middle East analyst at IHS Jane's.
"The ICC warrant today also makes things more complicated. At the same time, we have something of a military stalemate and even a lull. What is most likely happening is that some countries are using that to try and build up the rebels while they soften up Gaddafi's forces with air strikes."
Lavrov also said Russia backed an initiative by the UN humanitarian coordinator "for the declaration of a humanitarian pause to clarify the situation on the ground and provide aid to the population across all of Libya".
UN humanitarian chief Valerie Amos said on May 9 that the way sanctions were being applied on Libya over the Gaddafi government's war with pro-democracy rebels had been delaying delivery of supplies to its population.
Russia, a veto-wielding permanent member of the UN Security Council, abstained from the March vote on a resolution that authorised military intervention to enforce no-flying zones.
Russia has accused the NATO-led forces carrying out air strikes of going beyind their mandate to protect civilians, saying the coalation has essentially taken sides in a civil war.
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