MOSCOW, January 12. /TASS/. The Russian and Turkish Presidents, Vladimir Putin and Recep Tayyip Erdogan, confirmed in a telephone call on Saturday their countries’ willingness to help advance the political settlement process in Libya, the Kremlin said in a statement on Saturday.

"[The two presidents] continued exchanging views on the situation in Libya basing on the Russian-Turkish agreements, which the [two] heads of state achieved in Istanbul on January 8. [They] confirmed Russia and Turkey's aspiration to provide comprehensive assistance to advancing the process of political settlement of the Libyan conflict," the statement said.

The Russian and Turkish presidents emphasized "their readiness to contribute so that an international conference on Libya scheduled in Berlin can bring about results".

Putin informed Erdogan about his talks with German Chancellor Angela Merkel held in Moscow on Saturday, and also "about phone conversations with some leaders of regional states".

The two presidents agreed "to maintain constant contacts, in particular concerning the Libya and Syria issues".

The phone call was requested by the Turkish side.

On January 8, after their summit in Istanbul Putin and Erdogan urged the warring parties in Libya to stop fighting at midnight on January 12. Fayez al-Sarraj, the Prime Minister of the Government of National Accord, said on January 11 that he was ready to cease fire under the condition that Field Marshal Khalifa Haftar’s Libyan National Army (LNA) stopped its offensive. Earlier, the LNA had welcomed the ceasefire idea, but emphasized the need to go on with the war on terror.

After his talks with Merkel, Putin said he was hopeful that the conflicting sides in Libya would heed the Russian-Turkish appeal.

Libya crisis

Currently, Libya has two supreme executive authorities, namely the internationally recognized Tripoli-based Government of National Accord headed by Prime Minister Fayez al-Sarraj, and the interim government of Abdullah al-Thani, seated in the east of the country, alongside the parliament, which is supported by the Libyan National Army led by Field Marshal Khalifa Haftar. On December 12, 2019 Haftar announced the launch of a win-the-war offensive against Tripoli, aiming to eradicate terrorist groups operating there.