Libya seeks Moscow's role in peaceful settlement to conflict

Libya's premier and Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov held a telephone conversation  Saturday at the initiative of the Libyan side to discuss the situation in Libya, the ministry said.

"The head of the Libyan government expressed his assessments of the situation in Libya. He stressed the desire of the authorities in Tripoli to find a political solution to the conflict and said he wanted Russia to contribute to the search for a peaceful settlement," the ministry said.

In turn, Lavrov said that the most important thing now was to stop the bloodshed and the sufferings of civilians.

"For this purpose, it is necessary to unconditionally comply with the respective decisions by the UN Security Council and ensure an immediate seizure of fire, first of all, strikes against Misrata and other populated area," the ministry quoted Lavrov as saying.

Moscow is confident that these measures will help "create conditions for a truce," Lavrov said.

The UN Security Council adopted a resolution imposing a no-fly zone over Libya March 17, paving the way for a military operation against embattled Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi which began two days later. The command of the operation was shifted from a US-led international coalition to NATO in late March.

Despite dozens of sorties carried out by NATO aircraft against Gaddafi's forces, the government troops maintain their combat capability and continue to pound poorly-equipped rebels with heavy artillery and rocket fire.