Report: Lebanon Hopes Lavrov’s Visit Would Ease Govt Deadlock

President Michel Aoun has “decelerated” calls for binding parliamentary consultations to name a new Premier, amid anticipations that a near visit of Russia’s foreign minister Sergei Lavrov to the country would help make a breakthrough, al-Anbaa daily reported on Thursday.

The President has reportedly “delayed consultations with lawmakers by two weeks or more, because conditions set by Hizbullah chief Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah totally differ from the road map set by French President Emmanuel Macron,” sources told the daily on condition of anonymity.

“Macron had set a road map to get Lebanon out of the crisis and form a government accompanied by an economic conference to support Lebanon in mid September,” they added.

The sources said Lavrov could play a role in facilitating this mission by pressuring Iran to help facilitate forming a government in Lebanon.

“But this hope remains insignificant if political parties maintain rigid positions,” the sources concluded.

Lavrov is expected to fly to Lebanon late in October for talks with senior officials.