The Russian president, Vladimir Putin, has exhibited this Monday the descent that exercised by Russia on the libyan conflict by bringing together the two warring parties in Moscow to endorse the fragile cease-fire it signed Saturday. Putin got together the head of the Unity Government, Fayed the Serraj, backed by the Turkish Government, and marshal Khalifa Hafter, who receives its support from Egypt, the United Arab Emirates and Russia itself. Although not known to have sat down to talk, the appointment of Moscow is the first in that match Hafter and Serraj from the marshal attempted to invade Tripoli last April.
MORE INFORMATION
The poor bastion of sunni become the pride of the protest, lebanon, Libya, the new battlefield between Turkey and Russia, Russia gets a foot in Libya with mercenaries that support general Hafter
Nine months and 1,500 dead after, both parties will have to extend the truce, accepted the sabbath under the auspices of Putin and president Recep Tayyip Erdogan. But as is often the case in Libya, the weight of foreign powers is always relative, even when it comes to the own Putin. The goal was for the warring parties to establish a cease-fire with verification systems permanent. She even got to come out in the media, libyans alleged drafts of the agreement. All the world was going to go favored in the photo, from the minister of Foreign Affairs Russian, Sergey Lavrov, and the Defence, Sergey Shoigu, to their Turkish counterparts, Mevlut Cavusoglu and Hulusi Akar. But Hafter, 76 years of age, asked for more time to reflect. Some observers pointed out that probably what the marshal is doing now is to consult with the other two countries that support it: Egypt and the United Arab Emirates.
The meeting appeared to aguarse, although Lavrov is optimistic. “[Hafter] see the document in a positive way and so I hope that is his decision”, said the head of Russian Foreign. “We have taken into account the suggestions, especially on the side of Hafter, in order to reach a mutual understanding”, said the Turkish Cavusoglu. The document sets out a truce without a completion date, according to the draft still unsigned is leaked on various Russian sources.
The good news, despite all the setbacks and the many violations that denounce both parties, is that the fragile cease-fire still exists. And proof of this is that the international airport is Mitigated, in Tripoli, became operational after several weeks that the bombing of Hafter prevented the traffic of civilian flights.
The meeting in itself has been an achievement diplomat for the Russian leader. The European Union, United Nations and the united States had claimed for months the end of fighting. There had been no progress until Russia and Turkey, with energy interests in the country with the largest proven oil reserves in Africa, have been used to fund. Hafter has benefited from the arrival of hundreds of mercenaries, russians have managed to tip the war in their favor, to conquer the bastion of Sirte. And Erdogan has taken a step to the front, and has made its Parliament to approve sending soldiers regular to Libya.
Putin, who wants to present itself as a mediator, insists that if there are military contractors russians in Libya have no connection with the State. Meanwhile, Turkey has sent three dozen soldiers to the north african country to help train and coordinate the forces loyal to The Serraj. When all seemed doomed to a war between the russians and turks, Erdogan and Putin met and forced the cease-fire between the parties.
The Russian leader he has a special interest in Libya, a country plunged in chaos since the fall in 2011 of the regime of Muammar Gaddafi after a popular revolt and military intervention, led by France, the United Kingdom and the united STATES. Not only for having a place on the front row in the future of the juicy contracts and energy in the reconstruction of the country; not only by the place geostrategic State a north african, a fundamental point in the migratory routes and an enclave whose instability has a direct impact in the EU and the Mediterranean countries. Putin, the analyst Mikhail Rostovsky, believes that the West “broke” Libya and then away shyly, unable to cope with the direct consequences of their own actions. “On the one hand, this is bad for Russia: the West should have removed your own waste. But, on the other is good: Putin had the opportunity, to a level extremely practical, to demonstrate the superiority of his philosophy of foreign policy on the west. To do so we must fix what the americans and the europeans ruined; re-paste Libya”.
Meanwhile, chancellor Angela Merkel continues her attempt to convene an international conference in Berlin. The date fixed for this meeting, which is prepared from months ago along with the UN will be the 19 of January. One of the diplomats that will be attending that meeting, indicated to this newspaper: “The target that had been marked on the envoy of the UN for Libya (the lebanese Ghassan Salamé), is to put a little order among the countries that have interests in Libya and then put order among the libyans. But that goal has been suddenly altered with the intervention of Russia and Turkey”.
