ISTANBUL, June 14 (NNN-ANADOLU) – The foreign and defence ministers of Turkey and Russia will hold a summit in Istanbul today, to analyse the current situation of the civil war in Libya, where the two countries are supporting opposing sides.
The head of Russian diplomacy, Sergei Lavrov, and the head of Defence, Sergei Shoigou, will meet their Turkish counterparts, Mevlut Cavusoglu and Hulusi Akar.
A meeting had already taken place on Saturday (yesterday), at a technical level, to prepare for today’s meeting, in which the main topic will be the situation in Libya.
Turkey, which supports the National Accord Government (NAG), recognised by the UN, insisted in rejecting the ceasefire, proposed by Egypt recently. Cavusoglu himself said, this offer of a truce is “stillborn” and is just an “attempt to gain time” and to “save Marshal Khalifa Haftar,” backed by Russia, Egypt, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates. Moscow has indeed shown its support for the Egyptian plan.
“The solution in Libya will be political, not military. Haftar and the system of alliances he created, do not serve peace in Libya,” said Turkish Presidency spokesman, Ibrahim Kalin today, on social network, Twitter.
Turkey’s support for the NAG, with military advisers and mercenaries, has helped reverse the course of the war in Libya, and stopped Haftar’s advance on Tripoli, where the UN-recognised executive is based.
