libyan fighters
© Reuters / Goran Tomasevic
Russia and Turkey have called for all parties in the ongoing Libyan conflict to declare a ceasefire, even as both countries seem to support opposite sides in the affray. Earlier, Turkey began moving troops toward Libya.

Following a meeting between Russian President Vladimir Putin and Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan in Istanbul on Wednesday, Moscow and Ankara released a joint statement calling on all sides in the Libyan conflict to "declare a sustainable ceasefire, supported by the necessary measures to be taken for stabilizing the situation on the ground and normalizing daily life in Tripoli and other cities."

Libya is currently contested by the Tripoli-based Government of National Accord (GNA), and the Tobruk-based House of Representatives (HoR), the latter backed up by General Khalifa Haftar's Libyan National Army (LNA).

Haftar's forces spent much of 2019 advancing west toward Tripoli, at one point threatening to storm the capital. Turkey intervened on the side of the GNA last week, and began sending ground troops toward the North African nation over the weekend, under the auspices of providing "coordination and stability" for the UN-backed GNA government.

Russia has been careful not to pick sides, despite talks with Haftar in Moscow earlier in the year. The Russian government nonetheless criticized Turkey's siding with the GNA, with Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov stating late last month that "foreign interference will hardly help the situation."

Ankara has ruled out the possibility of clashing with Russia in Libya, with Erdogan adviser and Chief EU negotiator, Omer Celik, saying on Monday it was "out of the question."

Erdogan's decision to send troops led Haftar to declare "jihad" on Turkey, and the general vowed to throw the "invaders" out of his country. Meanwhile, the Tobruk parliament cut all diplomatic ties with Turkey and accused GNA Prime Minister Fayez Al-Sarraj of treason for inviting Turkish forces in.

Once an oil-rich and prosperous nation, Libya remains fractured and devastated since longtime leader Muammar Gaddafi was ousted and killed by rebel forces in 2011, with the backing of a NATO bombing campaign. With Gaddafi removed, the country degenerated into a no-man's-land blighted by militia clashes, jihadism, and human trafficking.