Egyptian President Abdel Fattah El-Sisi stressed that his country will not remain satisfied with the situation in Libya. While Russia called for a truce and a ceasefire, Prime Minister al-Wefaq Fayez al-Sarraj held talks with the Italian Minister of the Interior in Tripoli.

After a meeting with Libyan tribal leaders, the Egyptian president said, "We will not allow Libya to become a hotbed of terrorism even if it costs that direct Egyptian intervention."

The Egyptian presidency said in a statement that President Abdel Fattah El-Sisi said today that Cairo will not stand idle in the face of any moves that represent a direct threat to the Egyptian and Libyan national security.

The statement also mentioned that the tribal sheikhs who met with Sisi in Cairo expressed "their full mandate to Mr. President and the Egyptian armed forces to intervene to protect Libyan sovereignty."

Al-Sisi had earlier held talks with retired Major General Khalifa Hifter, who is fighting a war against the internationally recognized forces of Al-Wefaq government.

In response to Al-Sisi's statements, the Libyan Foreign Ministry spokesman said that the reconciliation government "is the one that determines the situation on the ground, and we have confirmed our desire to enter Sirte without bloodshed."

"We remind al-Sisi that it was the Al-Wefaq government that defeated ISIS in Libya while he was still suffering in the Sinai," he added.

Haftar's forces receive support from Egypt, the United Arab Emirates, and Russia, while Turkey supports the forces of the reconciliation government.

The Turkish intervention led to a change in the balance of power in Libya, as Al-Wefaq forces managed in the past weeks to keep Haftar away from the Libyan West after he besieged the capital Tripoli for more than a year.

Al-Wefaq forces strengthened their crowds in the vicinity of the strategic city of Sirte, which is a gateway towards the Haftar strongholds in the Libyan east.

Since the Al-Wefaq forces arrived in the Sirte ocean, Egypt has launched a ceasefire initiative and has been supported by Russia and the UAE.

For more than once, the Egyptian President warned against the reconciliation forces advancing east, and said that Sirte represented a red line for him and would not allow the forces of the reconciliation government to cross it.

A few days ago, the parliament in Tobruk, which supported Haftar, adopted a resolution authorizing the Egyptian army to intervene militarily in the conflict in Libya.


Russia calms down
and Russia had earlier expressed support for the Egyptian army's intervention in Libya, and said it would help restore the country.

But the Russian Foreign Ministry called on Thursday for calm, and urged the conflicting parties to cease fire and not allow a new round of escalation.

Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova called on the parties in Libya to enter into a comprehensive political dialogue.

"The situation on the ground remains tense, and according to some reports, the Libyan parties have taken a breather to regroup their forces with the aim of resuming armed confrontation," said Zakharova. "We are concerned about more civilian casualties, the destruction of infrastructure, and the direction of the conflict in this country towards more internationalization."

Discussions
in Tripoli In a related context, the President of the Presidential Council of the National Accord Government, Fayez al-Sarraj, held talks in Tripoli with Italian Interior Minister Luchana Lamorghese.

The meeting dealt with the closure of oil sites, the utmost necessity for the return of oil production, the return of Italian companies to resume their activities in Libya, and Italy's continued participation in the demining process from areas that were under the control of the Haftar militia. The two parties discussed the latest developments in Libya.

A statement issued by the Al-Wefaq government said that the two sides discussed "developments in Libya and a number of joint cooperation files, the most important of which is cooperation in the field of security, illegal immigration, and combating human trafficking and smuggling."