Libya’s Khalifa Haftar Makes Unannounced Visit To Moscow For Consultations with Russian Defense Ministry

The Commander-in-Cheif of the Libyan National Army Khalifa Haftar will pay this afternoon an unofficial visit to the capital Moscow to meet with a number of high-level officials in Russia’s Ministry of Defense, a military source in the LNA says.

If confirmed, the visit of Khalifa Haftar to Russia may come about a week after his army launched a large-scale operation in the Western Libya as well as in Tripoli that has been long dominated by the armed groups loyal to the internationally recognized unity’s government. According to a statement by the LNA spokesman Ahmed Al-Mismari, an advance is aimed to purge the country’s West from terrorists and different armed militias operating there.

The LNA started a military campaign on Friday, April 5 after the Libyan Marshal addressed to all the troops involved in an operation, stressing “the need to pursue “the march of struggle” targeting “oppressors” who provoke havoc in the capital”. “It’s time to peacefully enter Tripoli,” Haftar also added, guaranteed that all people are safe, except for those who resort to armed confrontation with the army.

To date, the fierce clashes still continue on a few directions in the district of Ain Zara, 12 km southeast of Tripoli, and in the areas surrounding Al-Aziziya city and Tripoli’s Int’l airport in the southwest. Earlier, the LNA has managed to take over the cities of Ghariyan, Surman, Sabratha and Tarhouna, in addition to a number of locations inside the capital.

On late Sunday, the Government of National Accord headed by Fayez Sarraj announced a counterattack called ‘Anger of Volcano” to halt the LNA’s further advance and regain control over previously lost territories.

The international community, including the US, the UK, France, Italy and Russia, expressed their concern over an increased unrest in Libya and called the warring parties for a complete cessation of hostilities, emphasizing that there could be no military solution to the Libyan crisis, but political one.

Russia is supposed to be one of the allies of Khalifa Haftar, along with Egypt, UAE and France. However, Moscow remains a sensitive approach to the Libyan settlement, officially keeping a balance between all key players in Libya.

On late November, Khalifa Haftar held talks with Russian Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu. The parties reviewed the Libyan crisis and the security situation in the Middle East and Northern Africa.