MOSCOW, December 10. /TASS/. Russian President Vladimir Putin and his Turkish counterpart Recep Tayyip Erdogan plan to hold a telephone conversation in the coming days, Kremlin Spokesman Dmitry Peskov confirmed on Tuesday.
"A telephone conversation will take place in the coming days, preparations are underway," he said, commenting on Erdogan’s statement that he would like to discuss the situation in Libya with Putin.
Peskov pointed out that "Russia maintains relations with all political and military forces involved in Libya’s domestic crisis and calls on the parties to the conflict to show willingness to make agreements. Russia welcomes all initiatives that could help resolve the situation in the country," the Russian presidential spokesman emphasized, adding that the situation in Libya had worsened "following certain actions by certain alliances."
The Turkish leader said on Monday that he would like to hold a telephone conversation with Putin before their meeting in Istanbul on January 8 in order to discuss the situation in Libya. Erdogan was hopeful that "Putin will reconsider [his position] on [Libyan National Army commander Field Marshal Khalifa] Haftar."
Libya crisis
There are currently two governments in Libya: the internationally recognized Government of National Accord (GNA) headed by Fayez al-Sarraj, which is headquartered in the country’s capital of Tripoli, and Abdullah al-Thani’s cabinet based in the country’s east, which has the support of the Libyan National Army (LNA) led by Field Marshal Khalifa Haftar.
In April, Haftar announced the beginning of a military operation "to liberate Tripoli" from terrorist groups. Fayez al-Sarraj, in turn, launched Operation Volcano of Rage to confront the LNA offensive and defend the capital. The military confrontation has claimed hundreds of lives, forced thousands of people to flee their homes and destroyed important infrastructure facilities.