Le Monde said Saudi Arabia had funded the mercenary operations of Russian Wagner Group in support of Khalifa Haftar in Libya.
The French paper added in a report made by correspondents from Russia and Turkey that between 300 and 2000 Russian mercenaries had played a pivotal role in the attacks waged by Haftar’s militias on Tripoli in late 2019, adding that 30 of them were killed.
Le Monde added that Haftar resorted to Moscow since 2015 promising Russia with oil and railway projects in Libya, yet he received the Russian support in 2017, before Moscow had decided to send Wagner Group mercenaries to help Haftar in his war on Tripoli.
“The support for Haftar comes from the Russian Defense Ministry, which denies cooperation with Wagner.” Le Monde added.
Russia’s relations with Turkey are far more important than Libya’s crisis to Moscow, Le Monde said, adding that they care about reaching agreements on the Syrian crisis.
It also said that Russia could make the issue of Libya on its agenda of negotiations with the Europeans, starting from France.
