CAIRO (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 05th April, 2019) The Libyan crisis will be one of the key topics for discussion during Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov's visit to Egypt, a diplomatic source told Sputnik.
Lavrov will travel to Egypt and Jordan for a working visit on Friday through Sunday. In Egypt, he will meet with the country's President Abdel Fattah Sisi, as well as hold talks with Egyptian Foreign Minister Sameh Shoukry and Arab League Secretary General Ahmed Aboul Gheit.
"Of course, the Libyan dossier will be discussed during the [Russian] foreign minister's visit to Cairo. It is impossible not to discuss the situation in Libya. Both Russia and Egypt have a balanced relationship with all of the constructive powers in Libya," the source said.
The source also said that both sides also had a common vision for the stabilization of the situation in Libya.
"Egypt has expressed its position on multiple occasions and has urged the powers in Libya to show restraint, work toward political stabilization [of the situation] and counteracting terrorist organizations. There is mutual understanding between Russia and Egypt on the subject of the stabilization of Libya as well as supporting the UN Special Representative [to Libya] Ghassan Salame's efforts in this direction," the source said.
Tensions are on the rise in Libya after the Libyan National Army (LNA), led by Field Marshal Khalifa Haftar, moved toward the country's west and started clashing with rival forces just south of the capital Tripoli. On Friday the LNA again started advancing on the capital.
As a result of years-long civil conflict, there is no single central government in Libya, and the country's eastern and western parts are controlled by separate powers. The Tobruk-based parliament, elected in 2014 and backed by the LNA, governs the east of Libya, while the UN-backed Government of National Accord, established in 2015, controls Libya's western parts from Tripoli.
