Moscow supports Algerian government's initiative to hold talks with opposition - Lavrov

Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said on Tuesday that Moscow supported the Algerian government's initiative to hold talks with the opposition after weeks of protests. Lavrov made the comments after meeting Algeria's Deputy Prime Minister Ramtane Lamamra in Moscow on Tuesday.

Lavrov said earlier on Tuesday that Russia was concerned by the protests in Algeria which he said it saw as an attempt to destabilise the North African country. Algeria's President Abdel Aziz Bouteflika is facing a groundswell of discontent and protesters have called for him and his inner circle to step down.