Anna Borshchevskaya is a senior fellow at The Washington Institute, focusing on Russia's policy toward the Middle East.
Articles & Testimony
Moscow has neither the resources nor the desire to bring long-term stability to Libya, and Haftar is the wrong man for the job, but that won't stop Putin from trying to exploit the situation.
President Trump has consistently suggested that Russian President Vladimir Putin could be a strong ally in the fight against the Islamic State in Iraq and Syria. But while most eyes are on Syria in this regard, Libya is another place to watch closely in the coming weeks. Putin increasingly supports Libya's Gen. Khalifa Haftar, who controls the country's oil-rich east but wants more. Haftar pursues an anti-Islamist agenda and looks to Putin to help secure his leadership in Libya at the expense of the UN-backed civilian government. This is where Trump and Putin could make a deal...
