Russia invites Libya's new government officials to Moscow

DUSHANBE: Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov on Saturday said Russia had invited members of Libya's transitional government to Moscow for energy talks, the Interfax news agency reported.

"They suggested holding meetings. We invited representatives to Moscow on their request. We will discuss all this with them," Lavrov was quoted as telling journalists at a regional summit in Dushanbe.

Libyan officials had asked to discuss future Russian energy projects, Lavrov was quoted as saying.

Russia on Thursday recognised the rebels who ousted its old ally Moamer Moamer Qadhafi as the legitimate rulers of Libya, three months after some Western states.

Moscow had abstained from the UN resolution on a no fly-zone in Libya at the outset of the conflict, effectively allowing the Western military action against Qadhafi to go ahead.

But it then appeared increasingly disgruntled and repeatedly accused the West of siding with the rebels in a civil war.

Russia's Energy Minister Sergei Shmatko said Saturday that the issue of resuming its activities in the gas sector in Libya would be discussed.

"We are going to raise the question of the future of projects that Russian companies were running in Libya, but also in more general terms the outlook for the Libyan market," the minister said in televised remarks.

"I think Russia has things to put forward to Libya," he added.

Moscow has landed lucrative contracts in the Libyan gas sector over the last few years which were suspended when the conflict broke out.

Industry giant Gazprom has seen exploration projects at four sites frozen, while Tatneft has also had to suspend operations at four of its gas fields.

Copyright AFP (Agence France-Presse), 2011