Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov, during his meeting on Thursday with Ján Kubiš, the UN Secretary-General's Special Envoy to Libya, confirmed Russia's willingness to cooperate in order to narrow the gap between the Libyan and Russian sides. This is stated in a report of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Russian Federation.
It is noted that the Minister "stressed the need to strengthen the coordination of international efforts with the leading role of the UN on the early withdrawal of Libya from the protracted internal political crisis in accordance with the decisions of the Berlin international conference and UN Security Council Resolution 2510." "At the same time, Russia confirmed its readiness to continue cooperating with the Libyan parties to bring their positions closer, proceeding from the importance that the intensifying inter-Libyan dialogue should be inclusive, cover all influential political forces in the country and be aimed at ensuring the territorial integrity and sovereignty of the Libyan state," the statement said.
During the meeting, it was stressed that the election of transitional authorities by the Libyan Political Dialogue Forum in Geneva creates the preconditions for ending the internecine conflict and the restoration of Libyan statehood. In addition, the importance of the early approval by the Chamber of Deputies of Libya of the composition of the Government of National Unity was confirmed, which should be a milestone on the way to further comprehensive normalization of the situation in the country.
Kubiš also informed Lavrov about his contacts with Libyan politicians, as well as the planned priority steps to promote a comprehensive settlement in Libya. According to the Russian Foreign Ministry, on the same day Kubiš held in-depth consultations with the Russian President's Special Representative for the Middle East and Africa, Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Mikhail Bogdanov.
On February 5, at the Forum of the Libyan Political Dialogue in Switzerland, Abdel Hamid al-Dabaib was elected as head of the Libyan government, and Mohamed al-Menfi, along with Musa al-Koni and Abdallah al-Lafi, became members of the presidential council. The main task of the transitional bodies will be the preparation and conduct of presidential and parliamentary elections in Libya, scheduled for December 24, 2021.
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Photo: Russian Foreign Ministry
Based on materials from TASS