Putin Met With LNA's Haftar in Moscow, Discussed Libya, Regional Affairs, Kremlin Reveals
© Sputnik . Mikhail Metzel / Go to the mediabank Russian President Vladimir Putin holds a meeting via videoconference on the federal budget for 2024 and for the planning period 2025-2026 on September 18, 2023.
© Sputnik . Mikhail Metzel
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MOSCOW (Sputnik) - Earlier, the Libyan National Army (LNA) said on social media that its commander, Khalifa Haftar, had met with Putin and Russian Defense Minister Sergey Shoigu during Haftar's visit to Moscow, which was announced on Tuesday.
Russian President Vladimir Putin has met with Libyan National Army (LNA) commander Khalifa Haftar in Moscow, where they discussed the situation in Libya and the region in general, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov has confirmed to Sputnik.
"Yes, we confirm that a meeting with Haftar has indeed taken place. [It] discussed the situation in Libya and the region in general," Peskov said.
On September 26, the Libyan National Army announced that Haftar visited Russia, where he held talks at the Russian Defense Ministry.
According to the statement, Haftar’s visit took place at the invitation of the Russian side. The deputy defense minister of Russia, Col. Gen. Yunus-Bek Yevkurov, greeted Haftar.
"During the visit, negotiations were held with Russian high-ranking officials on the development of the situation in Libya, bilateral relations between the two countries, and ways to strengthen and develop them were discussed," the LNA said.
The visit comes after a Russian delegation headed by Deputy Defense Minister Col. Gen. Yunus-Bek Yevkurov visited Libya in August at the invitation of Haftar.
"On August 22, 2023, at the invitation of the commander of the Libyan National Army, Marshal Khalifa Haftar, a delegation of the Russian Defense Ministry headed by the deputy defense minister of Russia, Col. Gen. Yunus-Bek Yevkurov, arrived in Libya," the ministry said in a statement, mentioning that this is "the first official visit" of a Russian military delegation to the North African country.
The ministry added that the sides plan to discuss "fight against international terrorism" and other issues of mutual interest.