MOSCOW, February 20. /TASS/. The meddling into domestic affairs of the Middle East and North African countries has resulted in the outburst of terrorism, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said at a meeting with Patriarch John X of Antioch and All the East on Friday.

"The flagrant interference in the domestic affairs of the countries of the region and indifference to the fates of peoples has led to the raging of extremism and terrorism in the region that the whole world has to tackle now," Lavrov said. "This is the most important task," he stressed.

"Your region and your motherland are going through very hard times now," he said.

Moscow tries to contribute to making true collective efforts on overcoming the conflicts in Syria, Yemen, Iraq and other countries of the region in a peaceful way, Lavrov said.

The Russian foreign minister also said Russia is especially concerned about the situation in Libya.