On Tuesday, Russia’s Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov held a telephone conversation with his Turkish counterpart, Mevlut Cavusoglu, to discuss the situation in Libya, Syria, and Nagorno-Karabakh, according to diplomatic sources.
The two top diplomats highlighted the importance of dialogue among Libyans, in line with the Berlin conference and UN Security Council (UNSC) decisions.
On his part, Lavrov said that his country is working with Turkey to settle the conflict in Libya and achieve political reform, although there is a serious difference in the two countries’ approaches to several controversial regional issues.
Lavrov added that Russia works on bringing the negotiating positions closer to the warring parties in order to launch political transformations based on the UN Security Council resolutions and the outcomes of the Berlin Conference.
In Geneva, the two Libyan warring sides signed an agreement on Friday for a permanent ceasefire throughout the country.
According to the agreement, all mercenaries and foreign forces are scheduled to leave Libya within three months. Widespread international praise followed the announcement of the agreement, with the exception of Turkey which questioned the viability of the ceasefire.
It also stipulated the freezing of all military agreements, and the departure of military advisors, until a unified government was elected.
Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan described the ceasefire agreement as lacking in credibility.
Ankara also announced its decision to complete its training programs for Government of National Accord (GNA) forces. Libyan media outlets published photos of the Turkish army with GNA forces in a military training centre in Libya.
Meanwhile, Russia praised the ceasefire agreement reached by the parties to the Libyan conflict, saying it will be an important step towards resolving the crisis in the North African country.
Oil-rich Libya has been plunged into chaos and instability following the death of dictator Muammar Gaddafi.
Since 2014, Libya has been divided between the areas controlled by the Government of National Accord on the one hand, and the Libyan National Army (LNA), led by Field Marshal Khalifa Haftar.
Recent events have coincided with an unprecedented global health crisis caused by the coronavirus.