The US is pursuing a targeted course to undermine Russia's role and influence in the Arab world, a diplomatic source told RIA Novosti.
"For its part, Russia has consistently supported the non - alternative political settlement of the Libyan conflict and strict compliance with the decisions taken by the international community on the Libyan problem," the source said.
He added that Moscow maintained a constructive dialogue with all parties to the conflict and proceeded from the fact that there was no military solution to the problem, and given this, repeated accusations from Washington against the Russian Federation of fomenting the Libyan crisis "look absolutely unfounded."
The other day, another provocative statement on this topic was made by the assistant Secretary of State for the Middle East, David Schenker, who agreed that Moscow's intervention in Libyan Affairs allegedly led to Turkish intervention, the Agency's interlocutor recalled. In this regard, he recalled that on December 10, 2019, during talks with US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov announced a proposal to launch a mechanism for Russian-American consultations on the entire range of issues to promote an inclusive inter-Libyan political settlement.
"The response to this initiative has not been received, which indicates that the United States is not interested in establishing constructive cooperation in the interests of an early settlement of the crisis in Libya and, more broadly, a purposeful course to undermine the role and influence of Russia in the Arab world," he said.
The US, according to the Agency's source, is secretly pushing the parties to the conflict in Libya to continue the military confrontation, seeking to ensure their interests in this country.
"It should be recalled that it was the United States that was the flagship of the NATO military intervention in the Libyan Jamahiriya in 2011, which brought the country to its current state," he said.
"Subsequently, Washington withdrew from collective efforts to promote a comprehensive political settlement in Libya, taking a wait-and-see position. At the same time, the Americans are secretly pushing the parties to the armed conflict to continue the military confrontation, seeking to ensure their interests throughout the territory of Libya," the source added.
By accusing Russia of meddling in the affairs of Libya on the side of the LNA commander Khalifa Haftar, the US wants to distract attention from its unsightly role in this conflict, the source believes.
"Recently, high-ranking American representatives often accuse Russia of destructive interference in the intra-Libyan conflict on the side of the Libyan National Army (LNA) of Khalifa Haftar. No evidence is provided," he said.
"It is obvious that by resorting to the tactic of unfounded attacks against us, the US seeks to distract the attention of the international community from its irresponsible policy towards Libya and, in particular, its own unsightly role in the Libyan conflict," the source said.
At the same time, the US is thinking about consolidating its permanent military presence in Libya.
"Finally, we drew attention to the statement of the Minister of Internal Affairs of the GNA, Fathi Bashagi, made by him in February this year, that if Washington applied for permission to build a US military base in Tripoli on the territory controlled by the West Libyan authorities, they would not object. It is unlikely that such a public invitation to the Americans in Libya could have been made without a preliminary discussion of this issue between the government of Fayez Sarraj and representatives of the Pentagon, " the source said.
"We can assume that we are talking about probing the international reaction to the US plans to consolidate its permanent military presence in Libya," he added.
The fact that US military transport aircraft make regular flights from the Ramstein air base (Germany) to Tripoli and Misrata, and the cargo being transferred to the West of Libya may be of a military nature, also speaks about US plans for military consolidation in Libya.
"According to open navigation sources, US military transport aircraft make regular flights from Ramstein air base (Germany) to Tripoli and Misrata," he said.
"There are reasons to believe that the goods being transferred to the West of Libya are of a military nature, and their distribution will be handled by a special unit of the African Command of the US Armed forces (AFRICOM), stationed in the area of the Libyan-Tunisian border," the source added.
GSV "Russia - Islamic World"
Photo: Creative Commons