“We will carefully monitor how effective Irini will become, especially against the backdrop of an escalation of the conflict in Libya and reports of an increase in violations of the UN arms embargo,” the Russian Foreign Ministry said.
They noted that the effectiveness of Sofia, the operation preceding Irini, was low.
“We proceed from the fact that the Irini work area will cover the entire length of the Libyan coast,” the Foreign Ministry emphasized.
In June 2019, the UN Security Council voted to extend the arms embargo on the high seas off the coast of Libya.
In February 2020, the head of European diplomacy, Josep Borrell, announced that the EU Navy mission “Sofia”, created specifically to combat smuggling in the international waters of the Mediterranean Sea off the coast of Libya, will be closed on March 31.