The First Deputy Permanent Representative of Russia to the UN, Dmitry Polyansky said that the rivalries over power in Libya will not end soon, which means that elections will not be held
During the Security Council briefing on Libya, he pointed out that progress in the constitutional track remains modest.
Polyansky noted that “reports from Tripoli recently made it imperative for the international community to maintain the ceasefire, and assist the Libyan political forces in their search for compromise.” He called on the political forces in Libya to “act with caution, and avoid escalation.”
The Russian Envoy confirmed Moscow’s approach to ending the foreign military presence in Libya. “We advocate a simultaneous, balanced, systematic, and gradual withdrawal of all non-Libyan armed groups and military units,” he said.
Polyansky attributed the reason for the continuation of the Libyan crisis was the “consistent policies of Western countries, which claim to be committed to the Libyan political settlement, while at the same time exploiting the turbulent situation in the country for their own interests,” as he described it.
“It’s obvious that the US administration continues to view the political process in Libya exclusively from the angle of its economic interests, including preventing the growth of oil prices,” the diplomat said at a meeting of the UN Security Council.
“Consequently, the main efforts of Washington are focused not on a profound settlement of the Libyan crisis, but on a kind of ‘conservation’ of the situation, so that a degradation of the situation does not undermine the supply of energy resources to the European market. This, according to our American colleagues, is the main task of the Libyan government,” he added.
“We don’t rule out the existence of certain behind-the-scenes agreements with third countries regarding the export of Libyan oil,” Polyansky said. “Essentially, Washington doesn’t care who exactly will extract it, and on what legal grounds, as the main thing is to sideline Russia in the world energy market.”
He claimed that the US is pursuing a similar course in relation to other oil-producing countries in North Africa and the Middle East.
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