Under Secretary of State for Political Affairs David Hale participated in the Ministerial Meeting on Libya today with the co-hosts, UN Secretary-General António Guterres and German Foreign Minister Heiko Maas, as well as other Berlin Process members, and Libya's neighbors. The Under Secretary underscored the United States' support for the UN-facilitated political process and called on all Berlin Process members to uphold their commitments by respecting the UN arms embargo, supporting a Libyan-led ceasefire and political agreement, and taking every measure to de-escalate the tensions in Libya.
The Under Secretary commended UN and Libyan efforts to advance the political process, especially the resumption in October of the UN-facilitated Libyan Political Dialogue Forum, which aims to create a new transitional government and chart the path to national elections. The Under Secretary also credited the recent progress to the simultaneous calls by Libyan Prime Minister Sarraj and Libyan House of Representatives Speaker Saleh for political dialogue, a ceasefire, and the reopening of the energy sector. The Under Secretary advocated for the swift appointment of a UN Special Envoy of the Secretary-General for Libya to carry forward the current political momentum. The United States will continue to engage stakeholders on all sides of the conflict - both internal and external - to stop the fighting and reach a peace agreement.
