Russian and French diplomats discuss preparations for Paris conference on Libya

29 October 2021

Mikhail Bogdanov, Russian president's special representative for Middle East and African countries and deputy foreign minister, discussed on Friday by telephone with Ana Guéguin, director of North Africa and Middle East department of the ministry of Europe and French foreign affairs, the conference on Libya, which will be held on November 12 this year in Paris.

 

"The conversation touched on substantive and organizational issues of the November 12 Paris conference on Libya. In this context, there was an exchange of views on the complex Libyan situation with a focus on the importance of coordinating international efforts to promote a comprehensive settlement in Libya on the basis of the relevant UN Security Council resolutions," the Russian foreign ministry said in a statement.

 

The discussion was initiated by the French side.

 

In Libya, for several years there were two bodies of executive power in parallel: the Government of national accord of Fayez Sarraj in Tripoli and the interim cabinet in the east, which had the support of the parliament and Khalifa Haftar's LNA. The latter launched an attack on the country's main city in April 2019; in response, the capital's cabinet mobilized all the formations under its control, officially requesting Turkey's assistance on the basis of a memorandum of military cooperation signed with it. After that, with Ankara's active support, it was able to regain control of a number of territories that had been seized by the supporters of Haftar.

 

 

GSV "Russia - Islamic World"

Photo: Creative Commons

Based on materials from TASS