Russia has welcomed the prospect of renewed military cooperation with Libya as Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu hosted Prime Minister Abdul Hamid Dbeibah.
“I consider your Moscow visit to be the first step towards resuming full-scale cooperation between the defense ministries of the two countries,” Shoigu told the Libyan prime minister in remarks released by his ministry.
Shoigu said he hoped that “the Russia-friendly Libyan people would overcome the years-long crisis which has broken out as a result of crude outside interference.”
Dbeibah and Mohammed Younes Menfi, chairman of Libya’s Presidential Council, face the task of trying to reunify the institutions of a state undermined by divisions between the UN-recognized Government of National Accord (GNA) in Tripoli and a rival administration backed by military leader Khalifa Haftar in the east, AFP reported.
Moscow has backed Haftar against the GNA in the conflict and has been accused of sending mercenaries of the Wagner Group private military company to join the fight.
Russia said in February it is prepared for “constructive” work with Libya’s interim leaders.
Dbeibah for his part said Libya needed Moscow’s support and expressed gratitude for President Vladimir Putin’s backing.
Libya has been gripped by chaos for almost a decade, since its leader Muammar Qaddafi was brought down and killed in a 2011 supported by a number of western countries.
In February, Libya embarked on a new phase of its post-Qaddafi transition after interim leaders were selected to lead the country until December elections.
