Libya: Haftar, Al-Sarraj to Ink Ceasefire Deal in Moscow

Head of the National Libyan Army Field Marshal Khalifa Haftar and chairman of the Tripoli-based government Fayez al-Sarraj are set to sign ceasefire deal in Moscow. The deal is proposed by the Russian president Vladimir Putin to end more than eight months of conflict in Libya.

Russia's foreign ministry said early on Monday that Haftar and al-Sarraj will hold talks in Moscow later on Monday, according to an Interfax news agency report.

According to Reuters, the head of the Russian contact group on Libya Lev Dengov said that Haftar and al-Sarraj will hold talks with other diplomatic actors in Moscow on "the possibility of signing a truce and the details of such a document".

Dengov added that it was still unclear whether the two leaders will meet face-to-face.

According to a Libyan source quoted by the Russian state news agency RIA Novosti, Khalifa Haftar has already arrived in Moscow. Haftar reportedly is accompanied by parliament speaker Aguila Salah, while al-Sarraj will go with Khaled Mechri, Chairman of the High Council of State.

Dengov said, according to Russian news agencies, the two leaders will have separate meetings with Russian officials and Turkish delegates, who are cooperating with Russia on this issue. Representatives of Egypt and the United Arab Emirates will probably be present as observers at the talks.

Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu and Defence Minister Hulusi Akar are also expected to arrive in Moscow on Monday.

The truce announcement has come after an agreement was reached a few days ago between President Putin and Turkish President Erdogan to call on all parties in the Libyan crisis to declare a truce from 12:01 am local time Sunday.

On Saturday, Putin announced that additional consultations with the two main parties to the Libyan crisis were planned for when the ceasefire had entered into force.

The LNA confirmed earlier on Sunday, that its forces would abide by the ceasefire, despite the lack of acknowledgement of the announced truce by armed militias backed by Fayez al-Sarraj's government in Tripoli.

Major-General al-Mabrouk al-Ghezwi, commander of the Western Region Operations in the LNA said, “The armed militias broke the truce on more than one front with all types of weapons.”