Russia's top diplomat said Friday that Libya's new leadership must respect agreements made by the regime of Moamer Gaddafi, even though he "long ago lost his legitimacy."
Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov's remarks, to three major radio stations, were the Kremlin's first official comment on the Libyan leader's death, dpa reported.
"We are depending on the new leadership of Libya to observe all agreements and contracts with Russia," Lavrov said.
Moscow is keen to develop energy in Libya, and has warned it would not accept a revocation by a new Libyan new government of oil and gas projects previously agreed between Gaddafi and Russia.
Lavrov also called for a full investigation into Gaddafi's death on Thursday, echoing earlier calls by a Russian parliamentarian.
"At first glance, it looks like a mob lynching," Konstantin Kosachev, head of the parliament's foreign affairs committee, wrote in an internet blog.
"We need objective information about the circumstances of the death of Gaddafi," he said. "I have mixed feelings."
Kosachev said Gaddafi's death did not solve the problems facing Libya, and called into question Western media reports saying fighting in the country was at an and.
"There are many questions to be answered," Lavrov said in his radio interview.
Russia was a longtime Gaddafi supporter and one of Libya's main arms suppliers.
The Kremlin abstained in a UN vote on a military intervention to protect Libyan civilians, and heavily criticized a NATO air campaign that helped force Gaddafi from power.
"We intend to develop relations (with Libya's new government) on the basis of respect of all treaties and agreements that have already been concluded between our countries," Lavrov said.
"The leaders of the National Transitional Council have told us specifically that they intend to follow that logic," the minister added.
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