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Russia, Tunisia diplomats see eye-to-eye on Libyan settlement under UN auspices

Sergey Lavrov, Khemaies Jhinaoui considered key issues of strengthening bilateral ties amid an upcoming session of the intergovernmental commission for trade, economic,scientific-technical cooperation

MOSCOW, April 16. /TASS/. The Russian and Tunisian foreign ministers, Sergey Lavrov and Khemaies Jhinaoui, met on Tuesday on the sidelines of the Russian-Arab Cooperation Forum, confirming the importance of having the Libyan settlement under the UN auspices and creation of single government institutions, the Russian Foreign Ministry said in a report.

"Discussing the regional issues, the sides specifically focused on the situation in Libya with an emphasis on the need to establish a stable intra-Libyan political dialogue under the UN aegis with the final goal of forming single government institutions capable of efficiently solving the tasks facing the country, including fight against terrorism," the ministry said.

Lavrov and Jhinaoui looked into key issues of strengthening bilateral ties on different trajectories in the light of an upcoming seventh session of the intergovernmental commission for trade, economic and scientific-technical cooperation, due in Tunis on April 24-26.

Currently, Libya has two supreme executive authorities, namely Tripoli’s government of National Accord recognized by the international community and headed by Prime Minister Fayez al-Sarraj and the interim government headed by Prime Minister Abdullah al-Thani, which operates in the country’s east along with the elected parliament and is supported by the Libyan National Army.

On April 4, Haftar announced the launch of an offensive against Tripoli. Sarraj ordered all military units loyal to him to be on full alert and use force if needed.

Russia’s Permanent Representative to the UN Vasily Nebenzya stated earlier that Russia does not support any side of the conflict and calls for national reconciliation in Libya.

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Sergey Lavrov Libya United Nations Tunisia

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