30 Apr in 3:00 RUSI
Abdul Hamid Dbeibah and Mikhil Mishustin in Moscow, 2021
On 15 April, Libya’s Prime Minister Abdul Hamid Dbeibah travelled to Moscow for the first time. During his trip, Dbeibah engaged with senior Russian officials, including Prime Minister Mikhail Mishustin, Defence Minister Sergei Shoigu and Secretary of the Security Council Nikolay Patrushev, on intra-Libyan dialogue and energy sector investments.
Royal United Services Institution (
RUSI) reports that after meeting Dbeibah, Shoigu extolled the Libyan people as ‘Russia-friendly’ and called for a resumption of ‘full-scale cooperation’ between Russia and Libya’s defence ministries. Dbeibah vowed to ‘build new bridges’ with Russia and emphasised Moscow’s ability to play a ‘key role’ in Libya’s economy.