The Libyans are to make a decisive step in favor of a comprehensive settlement in Libya, and the international community should contribute to this in any way possible, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said on Thursday at talks with Libyan Prime Minister Abdul Hamid Dbeibeh.
"Our meeting comes at a critical moment for your country. After many years of destructive civil war, Libyans must take a decisive step in favour of a comprehensive settlement, and the task of the international community is to help in every way possible. I trust that our talks today will allow you to familiarize yourself with the assessments that your government now has and with our approaches, which are aimed at implementing the existing decisions of the international community, above all the UN Security Council," Lavrov said.
The Russian Foreign Minister congratulated Dbeibeh on his election to office. "Following our telephone conversation that followed shortly after your appointment, I want to congratulate you once again, now in person, on your election to this very important post. We are glad that Moscow has become one of the first capitals that you will visit as head of the Libyan government," Lavrov noted. - "We see in this proof of the confirmation of the traditionally friendly ties of cooperation between our countries and peoples".
Lavrov recalled the Libyan Prime Minister's talks on Thursday with Russian President Vladimir Putin and Russian Prime Minister Mikhail Mishustin. "The program of your visit confirms how interested the Russian leadership is in solving all the problems your country, your people, and our role in international efforts to create the most favorable conditions for this," the Minister added.
Situation in Libya
There have been two executive bodies in Libya in parallel for a long time - the Government of National Accord (GNA) of Fayez Sarraj in Tripoli and the interim government supported by the Libyan National Army Khalifa Haftar and the parliament in the east of the country.
In early February, the Libyan Political Dialogue Forum elected Dbeibeh Prime Minister of Libya's unified government and three members of the Presidential Council in Switzerland, following talks that began last year on various tracks. Both were sworn in on 15 March and have already assumed their duties in Tripoli. Their main task will be to unify the fragmented power structures across the country and to prepare and conduct the Libyan presidential and parliamentary elections on 24 December.
GSV "Russia - Islamic World"
Photo: Russian Foreign Ministry
Based on materials from TASS