Russia in contact with Libyan factions, seeks end to violence: envoy

FILE PHOTO: Russian Ambassador to the United Nations Vasily Nebenzya delivers a speech. (Photo by Atilgan Ozdil/Anadolu Agency/Getty Images)

Russia is in contact with all sides of the Libyan conflict in efforts to convince them to stop the violence, Russia's Permanent Representative to the UN Vasily Nebenzya said on Thursday during a UN Security Council session on Libya.

"Russia has no hidden agenda in the Libyan conflict," Nebenzya said. "We maintain and value our contacts with all involved parties, without taking a preference to any of them.”

"We make our stance in favor of political regulation known," the diplomat added. "We consistently send signals to abandon aggressive tactics in the struggle for power, stressing the importance of uniting the efforts of all responsible Libyan parties in the interest of the soonest recovery of its statehood and national institutes.”

Nebenzya also called for the current ceasefire deal to be respected, saying the continued proliferation of weapons into the North African country and the Sahara-Sahel region at large posed a big threat.

Libya has been dogged by war since December 2011, and the situation heightened in early 2019 when rebel General Khalifa Haftar pledged to take over Tripoli from the Government of National Accord (GNA) led by Prime Minister Fayez al-Sarraj.

Hafter announced in early December a final push to take over the capital from al-Sarraj's government, unleashing heavy clashes on the southern edges of the city.

Since 2011, the Libyan war has killed thousands and displaced millions as militant groups and human trafficking cells sought to impose their command in various regions across the country.

The United Nations and some international actors continue to urge the warring factions to engage in dialogue in order to end the conflict and put the country back on course to the formation of a unified government.

Source(s): TASS Agency