The Information and Communication Administration of the Russian Defense Ministry revealed that whom it called the commander of the Libyan national army, Khalifa Haftar, had visited the Russian aircraft carrier, the Admiral Kuznetsov, which was positioned off the Libyan coast.
The Russian Defense Ministry was cited Wednesday by Sputnik news agency as saying that Haftar had paid a visit to the Russian aircraft carrier and he engaged in a closed video conference with the Russian Defense Minister, Sergei Shoigu.
According to the Russian Defense Ministry, Haftar and Shoigu discussed fighting international terrorist groups in the Middle East.
Earlier on Wednesday, media outlets reported that the Russian aircraft carrier, the Admiral Kuznetsov, had entered the Libyan territorial waters in eastern Libya in the same time that Haftar arrived in Tobruk, which seemed – to all appearances - a preparation by Haftar to meet the Russian Chief of Staff, according to pro-Haftar media outlets before the Russian Defense Ministry revealed that Haftar visited its carrier.
Khalifa Haftar visited Russia last year and had even sent his special envoy, Abdelbaset Al-Badri, to Moscow. Likewise, the Speaker of the House of Representatives, Aqilah Saleh, also visited Russia. All of the three figures called on Russia to conduct similar airstrikes to those it carried out in Syria’s Aleppo on Libya’s Benghazi to help Haftar put an end to the Dignity Operation that he kicked off more than 30 months ago.
