CAIRO, July 21 (Xinhua) -- Egyptian Foreign Minister Sameh Shoukry held a phone conversation with his Russian counterpart Sergei Lavrov on Tuesday, and discussed bilateral ties as well as the latest developments in war-torn Libya, said the Egyptian Foreign Ministry.

Shoukry highlighted Egypt's keenness on Libyan interaction with Cairo Declaration, a recent Egyptian initiative for reaching a sustainable political settlement for the Libyan crisis, said Egyptian Foreign Ministry spokesman Ahmed Hafez in a statement.

"Shoukry also stressed the need for a cease-fire in Libya to make room for political negotiations, as well as Egypt's rejection and confrontation of any foreign intervention in Libya due to the serious threat it poses to the security and safety of the region," Hafez added.

The talks between Shoukry and Lavrov came a day after the Egyptian parliament approved possible troop deployment in Libya to defend Egypt's western borders with Libya as part of the Egyptian national security.

Egyptian President Abdel-Fattah al-Sisi vowed last week that his country would not stand idle in the face of any direct threats to the national security of Egypt and its neighbor Libya.

Libya has been suffering a civil war since the ouster and killing of former leader Muammar Gaddafi in 2011.

The situation escalated in 2014, splitting power between two rival governments with warring forces, namely the UN-backed Government of National Accord (GNA) based in the capital Tripoli and the other in the northeastern city of Tobruk allied with Khalifa Haftar's Libyan National Army (LNA).

Egypt, the United Arab Emirates and Russia support LNA, while the GNA is mainly backed by Turkey and Qatar. Enditem

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