MOSCOW - Lebanon wants Russian companies to take part in a new tender to develop oil and gas deposits on the Lebanese shelf, Lebanese Foreign Minister Gebran Bassil said on Monday following talks in Moscow with his Russian counterpart, Sergei Lavrov.

It would bolster regional stability if a Russian company successfully secured the tender, Bassil said.

Bassil said Lebanon should serve as a platform for the economic regeneration of neighboring Syria and that Beirut would coordinate its efforts with Moscow, Interfax news agency reported.

Reporting by Polina Ivanova and Andrew Osborn, editing by Louise Heavens; Writing by Tom Balmforth

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