MOSCOW, April 27. /TASS/: Russia plans to continue aiding the Libyan peaceful regulation process, Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov stated on Monday during a video lecture for students of the Moscow State Institute of International Relations (MGIMO University) on Monday.
"In the course of all initiatives proposed by France, Italy and the UAE to resuscitate direct dialogue between Libyan conflict sides, we have always stressed that all decisions must be approved by the direct participants of the conflict, while we will only help them sit down at the negotiations table," he said. "In the majority of cases, like for example, during the Berlin conference, our calls were not heard. Nevertheless, Russia will continue helping Libya exit this deepest crisis."
According to the minister, it is necessary to develop approaches that would arrive on the outcomes of the agreements between Fayez al-Sarraj, head of the Government of National Accord (GNA), and Commander Khalifa Haftar, who leads the Libyan National Army (LNA). "This is the task of the UN special envoy for Libya, however, Ghassan Salame, who led this difficult venture until recently, has resigned," Lavrov said.
"We think it is crucial that we find a replacement for Mr. Salame as soon as possible, and this must be a representative of a country in the region, which would be a part of the African Union," the foreign minister stressed.
On January 19, an international high-level conference on Libya took place in Berlin, with at least ten heads of state and government attending the event including Russian President Vladimir Putin. The conference’s final communique includes a call to ceasefire, as well as the call for foreign countries to refrain from intervening in Libya’s affairs, while it also proposes creation of a single government and launch of reforms to restore statehood that was demolished by NATO almost ten years ago. The conflict sides also agreed to establish a special ceasefire monitoring commission.
Currently, Libya has two parallel bodies of executive power: the internationally recognized Government of National Accord (GNA) headed by Fayez al-Sarraj, and Abdullah Abdurrahman al-Thani’s interim government, operating in the country’s east together with parliament and supported by the Libyan National Army (LNA), led by Commander Khalifa Haftar.
