Libya, Russia address mercenaries’ dilemma

The Libyan Foreign Minister, Najla Al-Mangoush, visited the Russian capital Moscow and met with the Russian Foreign Minister, Sergey Lavrov, to discuss the latest developments in Libya and the issue of foreign forces and mercenaries in the country.

Lavrov and Al-Mangoush held Thursday a press conference, where the Russian Foreign Minister noted that he was particularly pleased to welcome the first female top diplomat in Libya’s history to Moscow.

“The visit of Foreign Minister of Libya’s Government of National Unity to Moscow indicates the intention of the Libyan government to build priority relations with Russia. We are grateful that you accepted our offer to come on an actual visit to the Russian Federation. We see it as the intention of the Libyan leadership to build priority relations with Russia. The relations that are founded on the traditions of friendship and cooperation.” Lavrov said.

Lavrov said Russia, as an active participant of the international effort to consolidate the ceasefire and help remove foreign forces and mercenaries from the country, it is very important to hear the Libyan evaluation of the events and wishes as to how the international community can effectively facilitate the implementation of agreements reached last October in Geneva.

Meanwhile, Al-Mangoush noted that Libya aims to advance this path of comprehensively developing friendly relations with Russia, saying that Tripoli and Moscow are connected through “ties of historic partnership” as well as “of close allied interaction on the international arena and on the issues of trade and economic cooperation.”

She also provided a positive assessment regarding the “significant part that Russia plays in regional affairs.” She said she would like to give high marks to the Russian Federation and to personally thank Russian President Vladimir Putin for the efforts on bringing Libya’s sides closer and initiating a ceasefire that started in January 2020 with the goal of finding common points among all of Libya’s conflicting sides.

Al-Mangoush said Russia expressed readiness to discuss the issue of removing all foreign forces and mercenaries from Libya as per a specific mechanism, saying she had agreed with her Russian counterpart on the reopening of Moscow’s embassy in Tripoli and consulate in Benghazi soon.

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