MOSCOW — Over the last few weeks, apart from the usual Syrian track, Libya has dominated Russia’s Middle Eastern agenda. On Nov. 12, Russian Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev led the Russian delegation to Italy for a two-day conference in Palermo in an Italian bid to bridge the parties in conflict, reunite Libya’s institutions and craft a path to elections. Previously, a similar attempt by France bore little fruit.
In the run-up to the conference, Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Mikhail Bogdanov held meetings with UN special envoy for Libya, Ghassan Salame, and the head of Libya’s High Council of State, Khaled Al-Mishri. On that same day, Bogdanov, who is also President Vladimir Putin’s special envoy for the Middle East and North Africa, held talks with Libyan House of Representatives Chairman Aguila Saleh, Libyan Government of National Accord (GNA) Deputy Prime Minister Ahmed Maiteeq and Foreign Minister Mohammed Sayala. The diplomatic activity was poised to balance the Russian Defense Ministry's own contacts with Libyan factions.
Al-Monitor recently reported about Libyan military strongman Khalifa Hifter’s visit to Moscow on Nov. 7, where he held talks with Russian Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu and the head of the general staff of the Russian army, Valery Gerasimov. The alleged head of the Wagner private military contractor group, Evgeniy Progozhin, was also spotted at the talks, which raised speculation about a possible deployment of Russian mercenaries in Libya.
“All of our activity in Libya is meant to demonstrate we are ready to contribute to the settlement process in this country. We welcome efforts by the UN envoy on Libya, Ghassan Salame, who is working hard [and has taken] some critical steps toward the settlement process. His action plan was adopted by the UN Security Council, including Russia. It’s now our major objective to help the parties settle their disagreements, ensure implementation of the Skhirat agreements and negotiate the issue of holding elections,” Lev Dengov, head of the Russian Contact Group on Libya — a joint initiative formed in late 2015 by the Foreign Ministry and the State Duma — said in an exclusive interview with Al-Monitor a year ago. Today, the respective moves by the Foreign Ministry and the Defense Ministry are meant to emphasize that Moscow hasn’t changed its attitude in this respect.
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