Washington demanded the withdrawal of Russian and Turkish troops from Libya. U.S. Charge d’Affaires to the United Nations Richard Mills made this statement at a meeting of the Security Council.
“In accordance with the ceasefire agreement signed in October, we call on Turkey and Russia to immediately start withdrawing their forces from the country,” he said.
Mills also said the sides should withdraw the mercenaries and others they allegedly hired, financed, and stationed in Libya.
Earlier, it was reported that in July 2020, the U.S. stole a Russian-made Pantsir-S1 surface-to-air missile system in Libya. According to The Times, it was removed from the battlefield and is currently located at the Ramstein airbase in Germany. The Times writes that the Pantzir-S1 “was delivered safe and sound.
In Libya, there is a long-time confrontation between the Government of National Accord (GNA), which controls Tripoli and territories in the west of the country and is supported by Turkey, and the Libyan National Army (LNA), which is supported by Egypt and Saudi Arabia. Its unofficial allies are France and the UAE — the latter, according to some reports, supplied the army with equipment, including that purchased from Russia. In October 2020, the sides signed an agreement on the introduction of a permanent cease-fire. According to the agreement, all foreign military forces and armed groups must leave the country.
Moscow has repeatedly been accused of using its mercenaries in different countries. In particular, there was talk about the Wagner PMC — an unofficial armed formation, which is associated with the St. Petersburg businessman Yevgeny Prigozhin. It is believed that its mercenaries provide security services in several African countries, including Libya. The Russian side denies such statements and stresses that it is not militarily intervening in the situation in Libya.
