US complains about Russian influence in Africa
The United States believes that Russia's involvement in Libya's affairs affects Washington's geopolitical interests, a senior White House official told reporters.
"The Russians have penetrated NATO's southern flank. They are building influence on the Black Continent," the government representative added, the official's comments were quoted by the Foreign Ministry at a press conference.
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| Russia is increasing its influence in Africa. Illustrative photo |
The official also reiterated that Libya is a major supplier of oil and gas. “It is not as big a driver of concern as it once was, but it is still a factor in global economic affairs as it was before,” he added.
At the same time, the White House representative did not rule out the possibility that Libya would turn into "another ungovernable space where terrorists can act with impunity."
As Vasily Nebenzya, Russia's Permanent Representative to the UN, said in an interview with Sputnik in late 2020, "Western colleagues mainly refer to the information of the Security Council's 1970 Committee of Experts on Libya." According to him, it is noteworthy that reports in which Russia is mentioned "continuously leaked to the press, albeit with limited publicity."
Mr. Nebenzya stressed that much of this information “is based on unverified or fabricated data, aimed at discrediting Russia’s policy on Libya,” which the Russian permanent representative called clearly pre-ordered.
According to him, Moscow has no doubts about the Western origin of some of the anonymous sources cited by the experts. The Russian permanent representative stated that "it was the Western countries that destroyed the Libyan state in 2011 and provoked the crisis that continues to this day."
