On Saturday, Egypt and Russia stressed the need to focus on the “sustainable development of a comprehensive political settlement in Libya.”
This came during the Russian-Egyptian consultations which were held at the Russian Ministry of Foreign Affairs on Libya.
During the talks, the Egyptian-Russian diplomats discussed the possibility of holding a comprehensive dialogue between Libyan political forces, to organize national elections, and establishing permanent state authorities.
Russian President’s Special Representative for the Middle East and Africa, Deputy Foreign Minister Mikhail Bogdanov, and the Director of the Libyan Affairs Department at the Egyptian Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Ahmed Abdel-Meguid attended the talks, according to a statement by the Russian Foreign Ministry.
During the meeting, they also exchanged views on the “dire need to reach a comprehensive political settlement in Libya.”
It was also agreed to continue bilateral consultations regarding the development of the situation in Libya, within the framework of close coordination between Moscow and Cairo on foreign policy.
The Russian diplomats affirmed their firm support for Libya’s unity, territorial integrity, and sovereignty.
In February, Egyptian Foreign Minister, Sameh Shoukry held a meeting with his Russian counterpart, Sergey Lavrov. They discussed the situation in Libya and Cairo’s efforts to push for elections in the country.
Shoukry added that they stressed the “necessity of establishing a government that represents the interests of the Libyan people, and ends the presence of foreign forces and militias while preserving the legal frameworks.”
In his speech at a joint conference with Lavrov in Moscow, Shoukry also touched on the issue of supporting the 5 + 5 Joint Military Committee (JMC), in order to “unify the military establishment, and not slip into confrontations.”
The FM said: “We discussed the situation in Libya, and Egypt’s efforts to find an intra-Libyan solution.”
In turn, Lavrov noted that “we stressed the continuation and close work with Egypt during our talks, to resolve the crisis in Libya. We support Egypt’s efforts to embrace intra-Libyan dialogue to reach the constitutional basis for holding elections.”
