Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Sergey Ryabkov said that Russia is guided by security rather than politics considerations when choosing between Tripoli and Benghazi as the headquarters of its embassy.
In reply to a question about whether the Russian embassy will resume its work in Tripoli or Benghazi, he told reporters that the Russian embassy in Libya continued its work from Tunisia and therefore it is wrong to say that it will resume its work.
According to the Russian “TAS” news agency, the deputy minister added, “Of course, when we return the embassy to Libya, we will be guided by security considerations, we have always focused on that.” Before talking about politics, he said, “let’s talk about the security of our diplomats.”
The news agency stated that the Russian embassy in Tripoli was attacked on October 2, 2013, as attackers stormed the embassy before the army expelled them, without any of the embassy personnel being injured. Later, it was unable to guarantee the security of the diplomats and Russia decided to evacuate the embassy staff.
In a meeting with the Speaker of the Libyan Parliament, Aqila Saleh, early this month, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said that Russia had decided to resume the work of its embassy in Libya.
