Russia calls for withdrawal of foreign forces from Libya

Deputy Permanent Representative of Russia Dmitry Polyanskiy, answers the questions of press members at the United Nations Headquarters in New York, United States on 1 August 2019. [Atılgan Özdil – Anadolu Agency]

Russia announced on Thursday that it was “concerned about the foreign military presence in Libya,” calling for a “simultaneous withdrawal of all foreign forces and factions there.”

“The foreign military presence in Libya is a critical issue that has to be resolved,” the First Deputy Permanent Representative to the United Nations (UN) Dmitry Polyanskiy told reporters in the Russian capital city of Moscow.

Polyanskiy stressed that it was: “Necessary to ensure an existing balance on the ground,” adding that the latter was “keeping the calm and preventing escalation in Libya.”

“We call for a gradual and simultaneous withdrawal of all foreign forces and factions from Libya,” he reiterated.

In a meeting in the Swiss capital of Geneva last year, Libyan factions reached a ceasefire agreement stipulating the withdrawal of all foreign fighters from the country within three months.

READ: Gaddafi’s finances may save Libya’s new budget

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