Moments ago, Italian Foreign Minister Luigi Di Mayo announced that the European Union countries agreed to form a mission to monitor the implementation of the arms embargo in Libya.
His remarks came following a meeting of foreign ministers of European Union countries in Brussels this morning, to discuss ways to monitor the arms embargo in Libya, after the United Nations expressed concern about the occurrence of many violations of the cease-fire and the arms embargo.
The Libyan army, led by Field General Khalifa Haftar, has repeatedly shown scenes of Turkish military reinforcements coming to Tripoli.
The Italian minister said: "Now the EU will engage with an air and naval mission with ground availability as well, to block the entrance of arms into Libya."
"Operation Sophia doesn't exist any longer. Now there's a mission that blocks arms," he said.
Di Maio said Operation Sophia "wasn't enough to block the entrance of weapons" and therefore "can no longer exist and no longer exists".
"This new mission with a new mandate, brought forward here today, will make an important naval contribution that will be deployed on the eastern side of the Libyan coast, where the flow of arms arrives," Di Maio explained.
"Another excellent proposal is that of blocking the mission in the event that it sets off a pull factor (encouraging migration, ed.), although this won't happen with the ships only on the east. Clearly this is why there needs to be a new mandate for this mission," Di Maio said.
Earlier, AFP reported said that Austria was finding it difficult to agree to resume the naval "Sofia" operation to monitor the implementation of the United Nations arms embargo on Libya. The Sofia operation was extended to the end of next March, but it is effectively suspended after member states withdrew their ships due to their differences over receiving migrants.
German Foreign Minister Heiko Maas said: "Those who focus on immigration issues must be aware that immigration problems cannot be solved if Libya turns into a collapsed country."
In Moscow, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov stressed that the situation in Libya did not witness a fundamental change after the Berlin conference which was held on January 19, noting that there were positive signs in the settlement process.
Lavrov said in an interview with the Italian newspaper "Stampa" published yesterday that "allegations that the situation in Libya after the Berlin conference is out of control again, is not completely accurate in my opinion, rather, it is said that it has not changed radically." Lavrov pointed out that the main task facing the international community is to obtain clear and unambiguous approval by the Libyans of the provisions of the final statement of the Berlin Conference.
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