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Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov’s statement at a joint news conference following talks with Minister of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation of the Government of National Unity of Libya Taher Al-Baour (Moscow, April 21, 2026)

Substantive talks have been held with the delegation of the Government of National Unity of Libya headed by Minister of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation Taher Al- Baour and Minister of Transport Mohamed Al-Shahoubi. <...>

We view Libya, our counterparts in the Libyan government, and the Libyan people as our partners who have stood the test of time and who maintain a positive attitude towards our country on a reciprocal basis. Decades of productive cooperation span a wide range of areas. We have a strong historical memory and we will draw on it in order to build a new bright future steeped in the spirit of continuity.

We reiterated Russia’s principled stance which favours overcoming internal political problems in Libya through inclusive national dialogue involving all political forces, with the UN playing the leading role. <...>

We discussed ways to step up bilateral relations. Clearly, practical steps towards this end can only be taken after things settle down. We welcome the fact that the ceasefire agreement has been observed for many years now. <...>

We discussed regional issues as well. We look forward to welcoming the Libyan delegation to the third #RussiaAfrica Summit in Moscow in the second half of the year. We hope that the third summit will adopt a Russia-Africa action plan for the next period.

We cooperate with Libya as part of our relations with Libya and the League of Arab States. In this context, we noted that the 7th meeting of the Russian-Arab Cooperation Forum at the level of foreign ministers will also take place in Russia this year. We look forward to welcoming Libyan participants and continuing working with experts to prepare the outcomes of that event.

We share common assessments of developments unfolding in the Middle East and North Africa and focus in particular on the crisis in the Persian Gulf, which broke out as a result of unprovoked aggression by the United States and Israel against the Islamic Republic of Iran.

Russia and Libya advocate the earliest possible cessation of any further use of force and the establishment of a sustainable political and diplomatic process. <...> We reiterate Russia’s readiness to help normalise relations between the Arab monarchies of the Gulf and Iran. <...>

We briefly discussed the situation in other Middle Eastern flashpoints. We have no doubt that the underlying cause of many of the region’s troubles lies in the decades-long failure to resolve the Palestinian-Israeli conflict. <...>

We believe that all responsible stakeholders, primarily Israel, the Palestinians, their Arab neighbours, and the United States, must act responsibly and remain committed to UN resolutions. Russia stands ready to continue being fully involved in this work. <...>

We provided an assessment of the current state of affairs in the Ukraine crisis. We appreciate the position of our Libyan colleagues, who are fully aware of the underlying causes of this situation and, whenever these issues are raised at the UN, take a balanced and neutral stance.

Another outcome of today’s work is our agreement to open, in the very near future, in addition to the Russian Embassy in Tripoli, our Consulate General in Benghazi.

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