Libya and Russia signed a civil nuclear cooperation deal Saturday evening paving the way for stronger relations between the two countries in various fields.

Secretary of the Nuclear Energy Corporation of Libya Dr. Ali Gashout signed the deal on behalf of Libya, and Director-General of the Russian Federation Nuclear Energy Agency Mr. Ivan Komentacie signed on behalf of Russia, the Libyan news agency JANA reported on Saturday.

Libya and Russia are to cooperate in the area of the peaceful use of civilian nuclear, particularly in the design and construction of reactors and the supply of nuclear fuel.

The deal also extended to nuclear use in medicine and nuclear waste treatment, JANA said.

The Leader Muammar Gaddafi said during a meeting with the Russian President that "cooperation in the gas and oil sphere is extremely important now."

"Libya and Russia possess huge resources and we are here to better use these potentials for the benefit of our two countries.

"We aim at a strategic cooperation that enhances international peace and security and we hope to reform the UN in a drastic way as to strengthen international peace. Because we are rather very near to the huge malfunction of the international equilibrium," Al-Qathafi said.

At his meeting with Putin, Gaddafi said "the development of our bilateral relations is a positive factor for the international situation ... It contributes to the reestablishment of geopolitical equilibrium."

According to Libya's Secretary of Foreign Liaison Abdulrahman Shalgham, the two countries also signed agreements related to calls for the creation of an OPEC-style body for gas-producing countries, among others.