Negotiations on Libya in Moscow ended without signing a ceasefire

Marina Kortunova
Press TV, Moscow

The talks between the head of the government of national accord of Libya Fayez al- Sarraj and the commander of the Libyan renegade General Khalifa Haftar under the auspices of the ministries of foreign Affairs and defense of Russia and Turkey were held in Moscow on Monday.

The meeting came two days after Libyan National Army leader Khalifa Haftar announced a 'conditional' ceasefire in its operation to take Tripoli from the GNA that came into force on Sunday at 00:00 local time.

Parties to the Libyan conflict have committed themselves to complying with ceasefire regime without preconditions, according to a draft agreement assembled at the talks in Moscow. According to the document, it was planned to decide to put an end to all offensive operations and strive to de-escalate military operations in all directions.

Libyan National Accord governments Fayez Sarraj and Libyan Supreme Council Chairman Khalid al-Mishri signed the draft agreement, while supporters of General Khalifa Haftar asked for time to familiarize themselves with the draft agreement. 

On Tuesday Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said that Ankara has already contributed to the normalization of the situation in Libya, and now the same has to be done by Russian President Vladimir Putin.

Erdogan also said that Tunisia and Qatar should be included in the negotiation process on Libya and stressed that the presence of Turkish troops in Libya will continue until freedom and stability are ensured for the Libyan people. He noted that, if necessary, Turkey is ready to "teach a lesson" to the commander of the Libyan National Army, Khalifa Haftar.

For his part, Russian Foreign Minister Lavrov speaking in Colombo at a joint press conference with his Sri Lankan counterpart the same day called for a common approach between the key mediators to achieve settlement in Libya.

The Russian side emphasizes that in comparison with Syria, on the example of Libya there’s one distinction and it is not in Libya’s favor; it was the political process that was able to start thanks to the responsible attitude from all the Syrian parties with the support of external players.

Earlier, Fayez Sarraj and Khalifa Haftar refused any contacts. The last time they met was at the end of February 2019. 

Italy attempted to play the same role a couple of days ago, but ended up in failure. Now it seems the leading players in resolving the Libyan issue are Turkey and Russia, but negotiations in Moscow do not guarantee the success of their achievement since some others still believe in military solution. Still, many believes that this meeting could be a good beginning to ease the crisis.

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