Russian FM says Hifter's forces ready for cease-fire in Libya
Sergey Lavrov said the Tripoli government wants to keep fighting as the war rages on with heavy foreign involvement from Russia, Turkey, Egypt and others.
Russia’s Libyan allies are ready to sign a cease-fire but the Tripoli-based government is unwilling, according to Russia's top diplomat.
Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said today that the Libyan National Army (LNA) is prepared to lay down its arms, but that the UN-recognized and Turkish-backed Government of National Accord (GNA) wants to continue fighting.
“Now, the LNA, according to our assessments, is ready to sign such a document on immediate cease-fire,” said Lavrov, as reported by Russia’s state-run TASS news outlet. “But this time it is the Tripoli government who does not want to do it, counting on the military solution.”
Russia, Egypt and the United Arab Emirates support eastern-based strongman Khalifa Hifter’s LNA in its war with the GNA, which is heavily backed by Turkey. France also allegedly supports the LNA. The GNA controls the area around the capital Tripoli and much of the northwest, while the LNA rules large swaths of the rest of the country.
