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Russia Announces Reopening of Libya Embassy

Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov. (Reuters)
Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov. (Reuters)
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Russia Announces Reopening of Libya Embassy

Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov. (Reuters)
Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov. (Reuters)

Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov announced on Friday that his country has decided to reopen its embassy in Libya, reported Russia’s Interfax news agency.

The ambassador will, however, be based in Tunisia.

Lavrov had received in Moscow on Friday Speaker of the east-based Libyan parliament, Aquila Saleh.

“We took a decision to reopen the Russian embassy in Libya, which will at this stage be headed by Charge d’Affaires Jamshed Boltaev,” he said. “He will temporarily be based in Tunisia, but I want to emphasize that his functions include representing Russia across all Libya’s territory.”

Lavrov also said a ceasefire in the Libyan conflict, proposed by Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi alongside Libyan National Army commander Khalifa Haftar in Cairo on June 6, could work alongside decisions taken at an international conference in Berlin regarding the situation in the North African country.

Saleh also held talks with Speaker of the Federation Council, Valentina Matviyenko. Discussions focused on the Libyan crisis and the need to reach a ceasefire and launch political dialogue.

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US Issues Sanctions on Sudan’s Burhan

FILE PHOTO: Sudan's army chief Abdel Fattah al-Burhan arrives at Beijing Capital International Airport before the Forum on China-Africa Cooperation (FOCAC) Summit, in Beijing, China September 3, 2024. REUTERS/Florence Lo/Pool/File Photo
FILE PHOTO: Sudan's army chief Abdel Fattah al-Burhan arrives at Beijing Capital International Airport before the Forum on China-Africa Cooperation (FOCAC) Summit, in Beijing, China September 3, 2024. REUTERS/Florence Lo/Pool/File Photo
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US Issues Sanctions on Sudan’s Burhan

FILE PHOTO: Sudan's army chief Abdel Fattah al-Burhan arrives at Beijing Capital International Airport before the Forum on China-Africa Cooperation (FOCAC) Summit, in Beijing, China September 3, 2024. REUTERS/Florence Lo/Pool/File Photo
FILE PHOTO: Sudan's army chief Abdel Fattah al-Burhan arrives at Beijing Capital International Airport before the Forum on China-Africa Cooperation (FOCAC) Summit, in Beijing, China September 3, 2024. REUTERS/Florence Lo/Pool/File Photo

The United States on Thursday imposed sanctions on Sudan's leader, army chief Abdel Fattah al-Burhan, accusing him of choosing war over negotiations to bring an end to the conflict that has killed tens of thousands of people and driven millions from their homes.
The US Treasury Department said in a statement that under Burhan's leadership, the army's war tactics have included indiscriminate bombing of civilian infrastructure, attacks on schools, markets and hospitals, and extrajudicial executions.
Washington announced the measures, first reported by Reuters, just a week after imposing sanctions on Burhan's rival in the two-year-old civil war, Mohamed Hamdan Dagalo, commander of the Rapid Support Forces.
Two sources with knowledge of the action told Reuters one aim of Thursday's sanctions was to show that Washington was not picking sides.
Speaking earlier on Thursday, Burhan was defiant about the prospect that he might be targeted.
"I hear there's going to be sanctions on the army leadership. We welcome any sanctions for serving this country," he said.
Washington also issued sanctions over the supply of weapons to the army, targeting a Sudanese-Ukrainian national as well as a Hong Kong-based company.
Thursday's action freezes any of their US assets and generally bars Americans from dealing with them. The Treasury Department said it issued authorizations allowing certain transactions, including activities involving the warring generals, so as not to impede humanitarian assistance.
The Sudanese army and the RSF together led a coup in 2021 removing Sudan's civilian leadership, but fell out less than two years later over plans to integrate their forces.
The war that broke out in April 2023 has plunged half of the population into hunger.
Dagalo, known as Hemedti, was sanctioned after Washington determined his forces had committed genocide, as well as for attacks on civilians. The RSF has engaged in bloody looting campaigns in the territory it controls.
The United States and Saudi Arabia have tried repeatedly to bring both sides to the negotiating table, with the army refusing most attempts, including talks in Geneva in August which in part aimed to ease humanitarian access.
The army has instead ramped up its military campaign, this week taking the strategic city of Wad Madani and vowing to retake the capital Khartoum.