Borrell Says EU Can Send Troops To Libya For Ceasefire Implementation - Reports

EU foreign policy chief Josep Borrell said he did not rule out the possibility of the European Union deploying its troops in Libya to implement and monitor the ceasefire in the North African country, the German Spiegel newspaper reported on Friday

MOSCOW (UrduPoint News / Sputnik - 17th January, 2020) EU foreign policy chief Josep Borrell said he did not rule out the possibility of the European Union deploying its troops in Libya to implement and monitor the ceasefire in the North African country, the German Spiegel newspaper reported on Friday.

"If there is a ceasefire in Libya, the EU should be ready to help with the implementation and monitoring of this ceasefire, possibly also with the help of the military, for example, as part of the European mission," Borrell said in an interview with the media outlet.

The official added that Russia and Turkey have significantly strengthened their influence in Libya over the past six months.

"[Russian President] Vladimir Putin and [Turkish President Recep] Tayyip Erdogan at least managed to arrange a temporary ceasefire between the warring parties in Libya," Borrell said.

The EU foreign policy chief went on by stressing the importance of taking decisive steps needed to move forward in the conflict settlement process during the upcoming Berlin conference on Libya, which will be held on Sunday.

Greek Foreign Minister Nikos Dendias said earlier this week that Greece was ready to help Libya by deploying its servicemen as part of the European mission to monitor the arms embargo.

Berlin will host UN-backed talks that aim to reach a permanent ceasefire, launch political process and reinforce the arms embargo on Libya. Officials from Turkey, Russia, the United States, Egypt and the European Union were invited.

Libya has been torn between two rival powers since 2011: the internationally-recognized Government of National Accord (GNA) headed by Fayez Sarraj and the Libyan National Army (LNA) led by Khalifa Haftar. Over the past several weeks, the situation has escalated amid LNA's advances on the GNA-held Libyan capital of Tripoli.

Russia and Turkey have negotiated a ceasefire in Libya starting midnight January 12 and mediated talks between Sarraj and Haftar in Moscow on Monday. The meeting, however, failed to result in an official ceasefire agreement. The army reaffirmed readiness to continue its offensive on Tripoli, which has already experienced being a battleground of a similarly devastating attack last April.