MOSCOW, January 12. /TASS/. The situation in Libya was in focus of Russian President Vladimir Putin’s telephone conversation with Italian Prime Minister Giuseppe Conte, the Kremlin press service said on Sunday.

"The sides exchange views on the situation in Libya. The leaders discussed the ongoing efforts to settle the Libyan crisis. In this context, Giuseppe Conte hailed the Russian-Turkish agreements reached in Istanbul on January 8," it said.

"They specially stressed that it is important that both parties to the conflict observe the ceasefire that was declared from January 12. They also expressed readiness to promote successful organization of an international conference on Libya in Berlin," the Kremlin said, adding that the conversation was initiated by the Italian side.

At their January 8 summit in Istanbul, Russian and Turkish Presidents, Vladimir Putin and Recep Tayyip Erdogan, called on all the parties to the Libyan conflict to stop hostilities from midnight on January 12. The Libyan National Army said on Saturday evening it was supporting this initiative. The Tripoli-based Government of National Accord followed the lead on Sunday. However shortly after the ceasefire came into effect, the conflicting parties started trading blame for violating it.

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, along with the elected parliament, which is supported by the Libyan National Army led by Field Marshal Khalifa Haftar. On December 12, Haftar announced the launch of a win-the-war offensive against Tripoli.