Moscow enters Libyan crisis, gives full support to LNA

Shaimaa Yahya

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan’s regime continues to send weapons to Libya in support of the militias loyal to the Brotherhood’s Government of National Accord (GNA) in an attempt to hinder the efforts of the Libyan National Army (LNA) in confronting the terrorist militias and liberating Tripoli from the grip of the GNA.

While Turkey has long interfered in Libya, Erdogan now proudly flaunts this to the world, and this intervention has delayed Libya from reaching peaceful solutions, including the results of the Berlin Peace Conference.

US rejection

The United States expressed its rejection of the military escalation in Libya. During a phone call between US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo and GNA leader Fayez al-Sarraj, Pompeo stressed that the political track must be maintained and the results of the Berlin conference activated.

Turkey’s breach of its agreements led to the failure of international efforts and calls for a ceasefire, as Ankara continued to pump weapons and mercenaries into Libya.

In a previous statement from the White House, US President Donald Trump and his French counterpart Emmanuel Macron agreed on the necessity of stopping the military escalation and the growing foreign intervention in Libya.

The statement stressed their rejection of the Turkish interference and called on Ankara not to exploit the chaos or provoke new chaos, in a clear call to stop sending weapons, militias and terrorist mercenaries in support of the GNA.

Moscow sends threats

There are mixed developments between Moscow and Ankara’s positions regarding the situation in Libya, as Russia had previously expressed fears of foreign military intervention in Libya that would certainly aggravate the situation in the country. After Ankara announced that it had signed two military and marine memoranda of understanding with the GNA, Moscow began to worry how the situation will affect conflicts of interest.

On Saturday, May 23, the Russian presidency announced its full support for the LNA to confront the Turkish-backed militants in Libya, stating that any threat to the LNA will be reflected clearly on Russia. The statement stressed that the Brotherhood is behind these interventions for the purpose of controlling the Mediterranean region and spreading chaos in Libya and the entire Arab region.

GNA

The GNA was supposed to be the patron of all Libyans under the provisions of the Skhirat Agreement, which had sought to end the war that has been ongoing since 2014, but the GNA instead served the militias and outlaws in Tripoli, using the Libyan people’s wealth to support mercenaries and terrorists.

The GNA granted legitimacy to the terrorists and installed them in military ranks despite being listed on the UN Security Council terrorist list. LNA spokesman Major General Ahmed al-Mesmari explained that the militias loyal to the Sarraj government are divided into two types – criminal and extremist terrorist – and these militias received more than 2 billion dinars in cash from Sarraj at the start of the Tripoli operation.