Russia maintains paramilitary and regular forces at key oil facilities in Libya and occupies key air bases in the center and south of the country, the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace said.
The American Foundation added that Russia transfers weapons, supplies and mercenaries from these bases to fragile and conflict-torn countries in the south, including Sudan, Burkina Faso, Central Africa, Chad, Mali and Niger.
Carnegie pointed out that Moscow uses air bases in Libya to benefit from smuggling gold, fuel, and drugs.
Carnegie also indicated that Moscow and Russia recently strengthened its relations with Haftar, following the tragic floods in the city of Derna in September 2023, by sending doctors and medical aid and through high-level visits.
The report continued that this support was followed by a significant increase in military materials, such as air defense systems and armored vehicles, flowing into the port of Tobruk, which the Kremlin hopes to eventually convert into more permanent base arrangements, she said.
He explained that Moscow is in no way indebted to the warlord, but rather works independently, and is also working to increase its communication with the government of Tripoli and Turkey on economic and energy issues.
The report stated that Russia is working to strengthen its soft power in the form of a polished Arabic-speaking Russian ambassador, an Arabic-speaking satellite channel, and participation in Libyan education, noting that all of this contradicts the absence of a permanent diplomatic presence of the United States, she said.
The Carnegie report indicated that American efforts to remove Russia and the departure of foreign military forces through an elected executive authority were hampered by “the stubbornness of Libyan elites and militia leaders,” who benefit economically and politically from the current situation, in addition to Washington’s unwillingness to impose major sanctions or put pressure on two of its closest allies. The Arabs in the region, the United Arab Emirates and Egypt, which enabled Russia’s increasing influence, as she put it
Carnegie said that the issue of moving beyond Haftar looms over Libyan politics, and that Russia will adapt to and benefit from his successor, who is likely to be his son Saddam or his more conservative son who was trained in Russia, Khalid, according to her.
The Foundation expects, in the near and medium term, that Libya will continue to serve as Russia’s most important entry point into the Maghreb and its most successful intervention in the African continent, which now serves as a starting point for Moscow’s growing footprint in the south through the Africa Corps, according to its description.
Source: Carnegie Endowment for International Peace
2024-10-06 15:03:09