Italian analyst: Haftar’s sons are seeking help from the Russians to ensure they remain in power
The Director of the Rome Office of the European Council on Foreign Relations, Arturo Varvelli, confirmed that Libya is currently gradually sliding between a wide war in the sphere of influence between the various regional powers, indicating that this should raise concern among the Europeans, especially in light of the continued Russian penetration in Libya.
Varvelli explained, in statements to the Italian “Globalist” website, that the Russians are currently proud of very strong relations with the family of the American Khalifa Haftar, and they are also seeking to improve their relations with Tripoli.
He added, “The Russians are currently aiming to move their cooperation and relations from the head of the family (Haftar) to his children (Haftar’s sons), and Haftar’s family has a strong interest in establishing relations with the Russians because that would ensure their survival during a transitional phase that would enable them to bring new generations to power.” .
He went on to say, “The Libyans in Tripoli are also trying to improve their relations with Russia, because they are eager to obtain reassurances that Moscow does not decisively support the opposition faction, and the visit of the Tripoli delegation to Moscow is an attempt to balance the influence of the Haftar family with the Russian establishment.”
He continued, saying, “The worrying aspect is the development in eastern Libya. Instead of the presence of militias or mercenaries affiliated with Wagner, there is a regular Russian presence, which indicates that there is a more sophisticated Russian penetration strategy that is emerging.”
He pointed out that Russia’s new strategy indicates that Moscow now wants to get rid of those groups of mercenaries who have maintained a kind of independence and wants the situation to be under the control of the Russian army itself.
He continued that the current Russian strategy is more direct, as it uses military and diplomatic officials who speak Arabic well and have good relations in the region to gain the trust of all parties to achieve their goals, which appears to be something that was borrowed from old Soviet policy.
He concluded by saying, “Russia has a strategic and broad vision, and they are trying to disturb us Europeans in general and create complications in regions of critical importance to us, such as the Sahel, Africa, North Africa, and Libya, because of our active commitment to supporting Ukraine.”
