Aoun: No retreat from reforms, and negotiations serve Lebanon

President Aoun said loyalty must be to Lebanon, and that anyone who seeks foreign backing against others at home will lose because the outside will abandon them sooner or later. He added that no war in Lebanon has ever had a winner, with everyone losing and the country losing as well. He said the decision to negotiate was taken because Lebanon is a sovereign state, and that it is in Lebanon's interest rather than to please anyone abroad. He also said that his call to end the state of hostility with Israel means ending the wars that destroyed the country and claimed innocent lives, and that any other interpretation is wrong and suspicious. Aoun added that there will be no retreat from the reforms he committed to in his inaugural address, saying the delay resulted from the war that targeted Lebanon, and that work will continue to achieve them.