Turkey has reservations about pulling troops from Libya but Russia has said it was willing to back a reciprocal withdrawal of foreign forces from the north African country, Chancellor Angela Merkel said on Friday.
“There are still some reservations on the Turkish side but the Russia side has acknowledged that it could be done in a reciprocal way,” she said at an international conference on Libya hosted by Paris.
“The elections on Dec. 24 play a decisive role. The preparations for the elections have to completed in such a way that in the end, the result is accepted.”
Paris initially wanted the leaders of Russia and Turkey to attend the conference on Libya. Turkey, which fears France wants to accelerate the departure of Turkish forces from Libya, has joined Moscow in sending lower level representatives.