The Russian Embassy in Paris announced that Russia’s Foreign Minister, Sergey Lavrov, will participate in an international conference on Libya scheduled to be held in the French capital on November 12th.
“Lavrov will head the Russian delegation at an international conference on Libya in Paris,” the Russia’s TASS news agency quoted an Embassy Official as saying.
It is expected that the Paris Conference on Libya will be held with the participation of representatives of the Libyan transitional authorities and leaders of the countries participating in the Berlin conferences. The countries neighbouring Libya are also invited to this event.
The conference will be chaired by French President, Emmanuel Macron. German Chancellor, Angela Merkel and United States Vice President, Kamala Harris confirmed their attendance at the conference.
Earlier, French Foreign Minister, Jean-Yves Le Drian, said that one of the agenda items will focus on discussing the Libyan authorities’ plan to expel foreign forces and mercenaries from Libya.
In his speech during the Libya Stabilization Conference in Tripoli in October, the French Foreign Minister said, “the Summit, organised with the United Nations (UN), Germany, and Italy in Paris for the 12th of November, will gather regional and international Heads of State. It will provide the last international impetus needed in support of the elections at the end of the year and endorse the Libyan plan for the departure of foreign forces and mercenaries and support its implementation, to put an end to foreign interference.”
The hope is that the international conference will help rival Libyan parties find common ground, given the recent wrangling which has cast doubts over the viability of December’s presidential elections.
The Conference comes ahead of the planned presidential and parliamentary elections, which are scheduled for the 24th of December, as part of the political roadmap agreed to in the UN-led peace process.