Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov has criticized a Western-led grouping that pledged aid to the Libyan rebels fighting Moammar Gadhafi's forces, warning that it must not seek to usurp the authority of the UN Security Council.
The grouping — the United States, Britain, France, Italy, Qatar, Kuwait and Jordan — agreed last week to provide Libya's eastern rebels with millions of dollars in nonmilitary aid to help them keep services and the economy running.
The contact group "is increasing its efforts to take on the leading role in determining the policy of the international community in relation to Libya," Lavrov told reporters after talks with his Chinese counterpart, Yang Jiechi, on Friday.
Russia and China "will coordinate our actions to foster the swiftest possible stabilization" in the Arab world, he said.
(Reuters)
