Russia on Sunday blocked a UN Security Council statement that would have called on forces loyal to Libyan commander Khalifa Haftar to halt their advance on Tripoli, diplomats said. Moscow insisted that the formal statement urge all Libyan forces to stop fighting, but the proposed change was opposed by the United States, council diplomats said. After a closed-door meeting on Friday, the council called on Haftar’s self-proclaimed Libyan National Army to “halt its military activity” in an agreed statement to the press.
