Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov on Monday said his country refused to recognize the rebel National Transitional Council as Libya's legitimate government. He said that Moscow was still ready to deal with the Benghazi-based council as a side for negotiations to determine Libya's future, but will not share the recognition on the Libyan rebels. The Russian foreign minister said that the Contact Group's Istanbul declaration on Friday has taken one party's side in the Libyan civil war. Mr. Lavrov said the base for the inter-Libyan talks must be the proposals tabled by the African Union and the UN and added that Moscow would not invite or give political asylum to Muammar Gaddafi. Friday, the meeting of the Libya Contact Group in Istanbul has recognized the oppositional National Transitional Council as the sole and legitimate representative of the country's people until the creation of a new interim authority.