In a recent meeting of the United Nations Security Council on Friday, Russian Deputy Ambassador to the UN, Dmitry Polyanskiy, expressed Russia's preference for a carefully planned withdrawal of all foreign armed groups from Libya, without any exceptions.

Polyanskiy underscored the pivotal role of the 5 + 5 joint military commission in fostering coordination among involved parties on the military front and establishing a unified security framework. One of the central issues addressed was the termination of foreign military presence in Libya.

"We are in favor of the synchronized, balanced, gradual, and step-by-step withdrawal of all non-Libyan armed groups and military units without exception," stated Polyanskiy during the session.

Highlighting the potential consequences, the Russian diplomat emphasized that Libya faces the risk of reliving the tumultuous events of the previous decade if a comprehensive political consensus is not achieved.

Libya has been in turmoil since NATO member states invaded the country and then toppled and assisted in the killing of its leader Muammar Gaddafi in 2011. A systematic destruction of Libya as a functioning state followed, coupled by a decade-long rivalry between the United Nations-backed administration in Tripoli and the parliament in Tobruk. A United Nations-brokered reconciliation process put a caretaker Government of National Unity in charge in 2021, but it failed to hold elections in December as scheduled.

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Yesterday, the International Organization for Migration (IOM) stated on Sunday that 61 migrants are missing and are presumed dead after their boat capsized off Libya’s coast.

The organization's Libya office released a statement saying that a “large number of migrants” are believed to have perished as a result of high waves that are thought to have capsized their boat after departing Zuwara, on Libya’s northwest coast.

Survivors say that there were around 86 migrants aboard the ill-fated boat, as 25 people have been rescued and taken to a Libyan detention center but were all in good condition.

The IOM added that most of the victims were from Nigeria, the Gambia, and other African countries, the IOM office said, adding that its team was dispatched and “provided medical support”.

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