Two Russian warships have anchored in the port of Tobruk on Libya's Mediterranean coast. They are in place to strengthen ties with the Libyan warlord Khalifa Haftar.
The cruiser Varjag and the frigate Marshal Shaposhnikov will stay in Tobruk for three days to strengthen cooperation between Russia and the eastern Libyan warlord Khalifa Haftar's alternative government, which has its power centre there. The visit has been reported from Russian and Libyan sources.
Libya has been a crisis-ridden and divided country since 2011, when dictator Muammar Gaddafi was overthrown. In the formal capital Tripoli, governments with international recognition have been formed. In the east, Khalifa Haftar's forces control nearly two-thirds of the country and its more oil-rich parts.
The paramilitary Russian Wagner group has also had a shadowy presence there for at least five years.
The 81-year-old Haftar has nurtured more official diplomatic relations with Russia, which is reportedly keen to have its own naval base in Libya.
The warlord has also received support from Egypt and the United Arab Emirates in the Libyan power struggle. The government in Tripoli has received military aid mainly from Turkey.
The two Russian warships came to Tobruk from Egypt, where they had participated in a Russian-Egyptian naval exercise.
