'Progress' on Libya talks but Haftar delays ceasefire signing
Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said Monday's talks on a ceasefire deal between the warring sides in Libya reached "certain progress" but that strongman Khalifa Haftar asked for more time to study the document. "There has been certain progress" after talks in Moscow lasting some seven hours, Lavrov added.
- World
- Reuters
- Published Date: 07:11 | 13 January 2020
- Modified Date: 07:11 | 13 January 2020
Talks aimed at agreeing an unconditional and open-ended ceasefire in Libya failed to achieve a breakthrough on Monday despite making good progress, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov told reporters.
Lavrov said some sides in the conflict had signed the ceasefire deal, but that Khalifa Haftar, commander of the eastern-based Libyan National Army (LNA) faction which has been trying to conquer the capital Tripoli, had asked for more time to consider the matter.
Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlüt Çavuşoğlu said Haftar had asked until Tuesday morning to consider the deal.
Libya's warring leaders held indirect peace talks in Moscow on Monday with Russia and Turkey urging the rivals to sign a binding truce to end a nine-month-old war and pave the way for a settlement that would stabilise the North African country.