Libya

European Union foreign ministers agreed Monday to launch a revamped mission to try to monitor and enforce an international weapons embargo on warn-torn Libya … But few observers believe the new mission will have much impact as EU naval assets will be deployed at least 100 kilometers away from the Libyan coast.

Libya’s internationally recognized government on Tuesday suspended talks hosted by the United Nations to halt warfare over the capital after eastern forces shelled Tripoli’s port, killing three people and almost hitting a highly explosive gas tanker.

The UN-backed arms embargo in Libya has become a joke and the country’s financial position is deteriorating rapidly, the UN deputy special envoy for Libya, Stephanie Williams, has said after foreign ministers met in Munich to try to enforce a ceasefire between the two warring sides.

The text of the UN Security Council resolution, which reaffirmed the conclusions of last month’s Berlin Conference on Libya, was drafted by Britain and approved by 14 votes out of 15 with Russia abstaining.

UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres on Tuesday called the situation in Libya a “scandal” even as his envoy cited a “genuine will” by rival military factions as they planned their first meeting to secure a lasting ceasefire. “I am deeply frustrated with what’s happening in Libya,” Guterres said in a press conference in which he was critical of countries that last month met in Berlin to push for progress in Libya peace talks.

The UN negotiator leading talks in Geneva to secure an end to fighting in Libya said on Tuesday that high-ranking officials from both sides of the conflict have agreed on the need for a “permanent and lasting” ceasefire to replace an uncertain truce.

French President Emmanuel Macron has accused his Turkish counterpart Recep Tayyip Erdogan of breaking his promise to stay out of Libya. Mr Macron said Turkish warships accompanied by Syrian mercenaries had been spotted arriving in Libyan.

Officials from Libya's two rival governments said fighting erupted Sunday as the country's east-based forces advanced toward the strategic western city of Misrata, further eroding a crumbling cease-fire agreement brokered earlier this month. The clashes came just hours after the United Nations decried "continued blatant violations" of an arms embargo on Libya by several unspecified countries.

Several countries backing rival factions in Libya have violated an arms embargo which they had agreed to uphold a week ago at a summit in Berlin, the United Nations said on Saturday.

“Libya’s neighbours have the responsibility to facilitate a political solution,” (Algerian Foreign Minister Sabri Boukadoum) added before the start of his meeting with foreign ministers or other officials from Egypt, Tunisia, Chad, Niger, Sudan and Mali. Heiko Maas, the foreign minister of Germany, which hosted a summit on the Libyan crisis on Sunday, also joined the meeting.