Russia’s Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov hosted his Lebanese counterpart Gebran Bassil in Moscow Aug. 20. The agenda of the talks included economic partnership, military-technical cooperation, protection of religious and ethnic groups, the situation in Gaza and the relationships between Russia and the Mashriq countries. The main item, however, was Russia’s initiative to return Syrian refugees home from neighboring countries.

During the final press conference, Lavrov said that Lebanon should not become a hostage to the Syrian crisis and the problem of refugees.

“We have discussed in detail the prospects for strengthening our cooperation on issues related to the safe and dignified return of Syrian citizens home, those who have found temporary refuge on Lebanese soil,” Lavrov said. “Conditions for this have been created and will continue to improve.”

He added that the Centre for the Reception, Allocation and Accommodation of Refugees that Russia established in Syria has been distributing information on the localities that are ready to receive people who wish to come back to their homes. According to Lavrov, nearly 7,000 refugees have returned from Lebanon during the last month alone.