Mission to Moscow for Libyan general Khalifa Haftar, a strong man from the east, who, for the first time since 2019, was received at the Kremlin by Vladimir Putin. “They discussed the situation in Libya and in the region in general,” said Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov, announcing yesterday’s meeting. Haftar, who also met with the Defense Minister, has been in Moscow since Tuesday, where he also saw Shoigu’s deputy, Yunus-Bek Yevkurov, for the third time in a month. An intensification of contacts, while the general tries to reposition himself at the center of the African ‘Great Game’ after the Derna disaster, which confirms that Haftar has no intention of doing without Wagner, despite pressure from the Americans.
Without the group of Russian mercenaries sent to Cyrenaica to support him in the failed offensive against Tripoli in 2019 and who remain there (around 1,500) to ‘look after’ the Kremlin’s interests in the region, “Haftar cannot resist”, underline Libyan sources. Which highlight the timing of the visit to Moscow: just a few days after receiving General Michael Langley, head of the US Africa Command, and the US special envoy to Libya Richard Norland at his headquarters in Benghazi.
2023-09-29 16:48:53
#War #Ukraine #Russia #news #Putin #entrusts #Prigozhins #deputy #volunteer #corps #LIVE
