Washington demanded the withdrawal of Russian and Turkish troops from Libya. This statement was made by the US Charge d'Affaires to the UN Richard Mills at a meeting of the Security Council, quoted by Interfax.
“In accordance with the ceasefire agreement signed in October, we call on Turkey and Russia to immediately begin withdrawing their forces from the country,” he said.
Mills also said that the parties should withdraw the mercenaries and others whom they allegedly hired, financed and stationed in Libya.
Earlier it was reported that in July 2020, the United States stole a Russian-made Pantsir-S1 anti-aircraft missile system (SAM) in Libya. According to The Times, he was removed from the battlefield and is currently at Ramstein Air Force Base in Germany. The publication writes that “Pantsir-C1” was “delivered safe and sound.”
In Libya, for a long time, there has been a confrontation between the government of national accord (PNC), which controls Tripoli and the 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 United Arab Emirates – the latter, according to some sources, supplied the army with equipment, including equipment purchased from Russia. In October 2020, the parties signed an agreement on the introduction of a permanent ceasefire. According to the agreement, all foreign military forces and armed groups must leave the country.
Moscow has been repeatedly accused of using its mercenaries in different countries. In particular, they talked about the Wagner PMC – an unofficial armed group that is associated with the St. Petersburg businessman Yevgeny Prigozhin. His mercenaries are believed to provide security services in several African states, including Libya. The Russian side denies such statements, and also emphasizes that it does not carry out military intervention in the situation in Libya.
