Moscow is taking concrete steps for a cease-fire in Libya, and is in contact with all participants in this issue, both inside the country and outside players, a source in the Russian Foreign Ministry told RIA Novosti.
On Wednesday, a delegation of the Government of National Accord of Libya visited Moscow for talks with the Russian Foreign Ministry. After a meeting with Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov and Russian Special Presidential Representative for the Middle East and Africa, Deputy Foreign Minister Mikhail Bogdanov, the GNA Deputy Prime Minister Ahmed Maiteeq said that the military escalation in Libya will decrease in the next few days "thanks to the efforts of Russian diplomacy."
"The Russian side stated at the talks, including Sergey Lavrov, that it is important to achieve a cessation of hostilities and start negotiations. These are not just appeals, but also concrete steps that we are taking in this direction in contacts with all the Libyan parties, including Tripoli, and with the East of the country, with all the political forces," a source, who was at the meeting, told RIA Novosti.
The Agency's interlocutor stressed that these steps are also being taken "with external players". "In particular, within the framework of the Berlin process, where the Americans participated; we were in contact with them and agreed on the conference documents. With them and with European partners," he added.
After the overthrow and death of Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi in 2011, Libya effectively ceased to function as a single state. Now the country is ruled by dual power. The East is ruled by the Parliament elected by the people, and the West, in the capital Tripoli, - the Government of National Accord, formed with the support of the UN and the European Union, led by Sarraj. The authorities in the Eastern part of the country operate independently of Tripoli and cooperate with the Libyan national army led by Marshal Haftar, who has not stopped trying to capture Tripoli since April 2019.
An international conference on Libya was held in Berlin on January 19 with the participation of Russia, the United States, Turkey, Egypt and a number of other countries, as well as the EU and the UN. The main outcome of the conference was a call by its participants for a ceasefire in Libya and a commitment to refrain from interfering in the conflict, observing the arms embargo on the parties. In addition, the participants of the meeting proposed to create a Committee to monitor the implementation of the ceasefire agreement.
The 5+5 military Commission held talks in Geneva: the Commission consisted of five senior officers from the Government of National Accord and five senior officers from the Libyan National Army. The talks were led by the UN Special Envoy for Libya, Ghassan Salame, and the head of the UN Support Mission in Libya. The second round of consultations ended on February 23 . On Tuesday, the UN Mission in Libya (UNSMIL) said that the parties to the conflict in the country agreed to resume negotiations of the military Committee (5+5).
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Based on materials from RIA Novosti