The leaders of several G8 nations have asked Russia to mediate in Libya's civil war, a Kremlin spokeswoman said Thursday night, DPA reported.
"During each bilateral meeting this wish has become clear," Natalia Timakova, spokeswoman for Russian President Dmitry Medvedev, was quoted as saying by Russian news agencies.
Medvedev had one-on-one talks during the G8 summit in Deauville, France, with US President Barack Obama, French President Nicolas Sarkozy and British Prime Minister David Cameron, she said.
Libyan Prime Minister al-Baghdadi al-Mahmudi, in a telephone conversation, asked Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov for help in arranging cease-fire talks with the country's opposition without pre-conditions, according to a Kremlin statement.
The offer has created a "real chance" for bringing Libya's civil war to an end, Russia's Foreign Ministry said in a statement.
Russia enabled the creation of a no-fly zone over Libya when it abstained in March from the UN Security Council's vote on the measure.
The Kremlin has since repeatedly criticized the ongoing NATO air campaign against the Libyan regime's combat units and government installations, saying the airstrikes go beyond the intent of the UN resolution, which was to protect civilian life.
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