Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov says NATO’s military intervention in oil-rich Libya has gone far beyond the mandate authorized by the United Nations.

After talks with NATO counterparts in Berlin on Friday, Lavrov also called for an urgent shift towards a political and diplomatic settlement in Libya, AFP reported.

The remarks come as at least eight revolutionaries have been killed in fresh shelling of the western city of Misratah by forces loyal to the Libyan ruler Muammar Gaddafi.

Heavy fighting continued around Misratah on Friday as Gaddafi loyalists fired dozens of rockets at the coastal city.

On Thursday, NATO member states rejected a call by France and Britain to step up attacks on Libya, widening the rift in the Western military alliance over the strategy in the North African country.