MOSCOW (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 10th January, 2020) Russian Special Presidential Envoy for the middle East and Africa, Deputy Foreign Minister Mikhail Bogdanov on Friday discussed the situation in Libya with ambassadors of Turkey and Italy in Moscow, the Russian Foreign Ministry said.
First, Bogdanov met with Turkish Ambassador Mehmet Samsara to discuss "the developments in Libya and Syria in the light of the Russian-Turkish summit, which was held in Istanbul on January 8," according to the ministerial statement.
Later in the day, Bogdanov met with Italian Ambassador to Russia Pasquale Terracciano.
"In the course of the conversation [between Bogdanov and Terracciano], a thorough exchange of views took place on pressing problems of the Middle East and North Africa region with an emphasis on the current situation in Libya and the task of consolidating international efforts to facilitate a timely resolution of the Libyan crisis," the ministry said.
Earlier this week, Russian President Vladimir Putin and his Turkish counterpart, Recep Tayyip Erdogan, agreed on a common stance on Libya and called for a comprehensive ceasefire starting midnight January 12. They also urged all conflict parties to begin negotiations.
The situation in Libya has escalated over the past several weeks as the Libyan National Army's commander Khalifa Haftar ordered his troops to advance on Tripoli, controlled by the UN-recognized Government of National Accord. The city has already experienced being a battleground of a similar attack in April that had left hundreds of people killed and thousands more injured.
