‘Turkish invaders’ in Lybia

1 Libya

Khalifa Haftar, the commander of the Libyan National Army, announced that the LNA will not retreat until all the «Turkish invaders» and their mercenaries are expelled from Libya — the ‘Sky News Arabia’ TV reports. «The Turkish aggression threatens the unity of Libya, and the stability of the region. Turkey seeks to control the resources and wealth of our country to cope with their own economic crisis» — Haftar explained — «We responded to the urgent demands of the international community to agree on a political settlement. However, we will not allow this period of time to be used to transfer arms and mercenaries to Libya» — he warned and underlined that the LNA will continue to «build their capacity» to protect the Libyans from the invasion and from the terrorists.

2 Russia — Libya

The Russian Foreign Minister, Sergei Lavrov, stated after the talks with the foreign ministers of the 3 countries of the African Union that the LNA is now ready to sign a document on the immediate ceasefire. However, the Government of National Accord doesn’t want to do it, since they count on a military solution. He expressed his regret that even the statement by all the parties that there is no military solution of the Libyan conflict «still doesn’t turn into practical matters». Sergey Lavrov added that «the Turkish colleagues are working with the GNA towards a ceasefire». »I hope that they will be able to achieve the only solution that is right under the current conditions” — Lavrov concluded.

3 Syria — Iran

The ‘Al Mayadeen’ TV reported that the Syrian Minister of Defense, Corps General Ali Abdullah Ayyub, and the Chief of the Staff of the Iranian Armed Forces, Mohammad Bagheri, signed a “comprehensive military cooperation agreement”. The agreement provides the enhancement of the ties in the military matters, and in the security matters, and it also enhances the constant coordination efforts between the parties. The Chief of Staff of the Iranian Armed Forces stated that within the framework of the signed treaty, Iran will «fortify the Syrian air defense systems». Before signing of the agreement, the parties held negotiations related to the situation in Syria, and the need to expel all foreign troops, illegally stationed on the Syrian territory.

4 Russia — Germany — Syria

The Russian Foreign Ministry reported that the Russian Foreign Minister, Sergey Lavrov, spoke on the telephone with the German Foreign Minister, Heiko Maas, on the matters of the provision of a humanitarian aid to the Syrian citizens. Sergey Lavrov pointed out the fact that all the humanitarian operations should be coordinated with Damascus. He also pointed out the negative impact of the EU and US sanctions against Syria, which continue to operate, despite the call of the UN Secretary General, Antonio Guterres. «The parties expressed their opinion that the political process of the resolution of the Syrian crisis, led and carried out by the Syrians themselves with the support of the UN, is based on a commitment to the sovereignty, independence, unity, and territorial integrity of Syria, in accordance with the UN Security Council resolution 22-54» — the Russian Foreign Ministry stated.

5 The UN — Syria

The Russian permanent representative to the UN, Vasily Nebenzya, stated after a vote to extend the cross-border humanitarian aid for Syria, that Russia considers it necessary to gradually curtail the cross-border aid mechanism for Syria. Russia also proposes the adoption of a resolution that provides the extension of the supplies via only 1 checkpoint on the border with Turkey. He called on the colleagues in the UN Security Council to »not politicize the humanitarian aid, but instead — support the Russian draft resolution, which will extend the humanitarian aid for the people of the Syrian province of Idlib». Russia and China veto’ed the draft resolution of Germany and Belgium which proposed to leave 2 checkpoints open for the UN. Germany and Belgium expressed their regret that the document was blocked. They also expressed their readiness to make a new draft. The US Permanent Representative, Kelly Kraft, accused Russia and China of «strangling the humanitarian aid to Syria», despite the fact that Moscow has already proposed to the Security Council its own option to extend the cross-border aid mechanism. Kelly Kraft called on all UN colleagues to «come up with a common position to demand a reversal of that decision».