On Saturday, the Head of Libya’s Presidential Council, Mohamed Younis Al-Mnifi met with Russian Foreign Minister, Sergey Lavrov, on the sidelines of the United Nations General Assembly (UNGA) on Friday to discuss international aid to Libya.
“It is important for us to understand what the international community can do to help the people of Libya. We always rely upon your nation’s wisdom,” the Russian Minister said.
According to a statement, issued by the Russian Foreign Ministry, the two sides stated the need to consolidate international aid to Libya’s transitional government.
Al-Mnifi and Lavrov stressed “the need to consolidate international support to further promote the political process with the leading role of the United Nations (UN), in accordance with the UN Security Council Resolutions 2510 and 2570 and decisions made during the international conference on Libya in Berlin,” the statement says.
They also noted certain progress in the Libyan reconciliation process, achieved this year.
“A positive assessment was given to activities of central governmental institutions for the transitional period, created in the country in the spring of 2021 – the Presidential Council and the Government of National Unity (GNU). Preparing and holding the presidential and parliamentary elections, scheduled for December 24th, 2021, was named as the main priority of Libya’s transitional government,” the Ministry said.
“The Russian side reaffirmed the importance of reaching a nationwide consensus on key issues of the national agenda, taking into account interests of all Libyans with the purpose of maintaining unity, sovereignty and territorial integrity of the country,” the Ministry added.
In February 2021, the Libyan Prime Minister and the Presidential Council were elected at the Libyan Political Dialogue Forum (LPDF) in Switzerland. They assumed offices in Tripoli in March. Their key tasks are to unite the fragmented government, as well as to prepare and organize the presidential and parliamentary elections tentatively scheduled for December 24th.
During a closed session on September 21st, Parliament voted to pull its confidence from the transitional government led by Abdelhamid Al-Dbaiba, but the Cabinet will continue its work until the general election, scheduled for December.