BEIRUT - Russian Ambassador to Lebanon Alexander Zasypkin on Sunday urged Lebanese officials to speed up the government formation in order to start necessary reforms in the country. “We are communicating with all political parties in a bid to facilitate the government formation,” Zasypkin was quoted as saying by Elnashra, an independent online newspaper.

Lebanon has been struggling to form a government since Saad Hariri was designated Prime Minister after the parliamentary elections in May.

The formation of government has been repeatedly delayed mainly due to differences among parties over their representation in the new government.

Lebanese authorities must speed up the formation of the new government to start necessary reforms to obtain the help pledged at the CEDRE conference, an international conference held in April 2018 in France to support Lebanon’s development and reforms.

Lebanon secured pledges of loans from international donors at CEDRE to revamp its ailing infrastructure and bolster its economy, but it is at risk of losing the pledges if it fails to form a government sooner.