01:21Mandatory credit: Deutsche Welle
German Foreign Minister Heiko Maas said that "there are reasons for cautious optimism" about the situation in Libya, while giving a statement in Berlin, on Monday, after hosting a virtual meeting on peace efforts in the African nation alongside the UN.
"We are seeing increasing signs for a shift in thinking from military to political logic that more and more follow and that's what the negotiations of the important groups in Montreux have shown there," said Maas, "An agreement for a road map was reached and that's what we always wanted."
"Stabilising Libya is no sprint, but a marathon," he stressed but explained that "after a phase where things even seemed to be moving backwards in recent months" the parties had "managed another kilometre today."
The meeting, which brought together ministers from 23 countries, as well as UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres, was intended as a follow-up to January's summit in Berlin.
Libya has been torn by conflict since the ousting of former Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi in 2011. The country has recently been split into areas controlled by the UN-recognised Government of National Accord (GNA) in Tripoli and the northwest, and territories held by the eastern-based Libyan National Army in Benghazi, led by General Khalifa Haftar.
Germany: 'There are reasons for cautious optimism' - Maas on Libya
German Foreign Minister Heiko Maas said that "there are reasons for cautious optimism" about the situation in Libya, while giving a statement in Berlin, on Monday, after hosting a virtual meeting on peace efforts in the African nation alongside the UN.
"We are seeing increasing signs for a shift in thinking from military to political logic that more and more follow and that's what the negotiations of the important groups in Montreux have shown there," said Maas, "An agreement for a road map was reached and that's what we always wanted."
"Stabilising Libya is no sprint, but a marathon," he stressed but explained that "after a phase where things even seemed to be moving backwards in recent months" the parties had "managed another kilometre today."
The meeting, which brought together ministers from 23 countries, as well as UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres, was intended as a follow-up to January's summit in Berlin.
Libya has been torn by conflict since the ousting of former Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi in 2011. The country has recently been split into areas controlled by the UN-recognised Government of National Accord (GNA) in Tripoli and the northwest, and territories held by the eastern-based Libyan National Army in Benghazi, led by General Khalifa Haftar.
Mandatory credit: Deutsche Welle
German Foreign Minister Heiko Maas said that "there are reasons for cautious optimism" about the situation in Libya, while giving a statement in Berlin, on Monday, after hosting a virtual meeting on peace efforts in the African nation alongside the UN.
"We are seeing increasing signs for a shift in thinking from military to political logic that more and more follow and that's what the negotiations of the important groups in Montreux have shown there," said Maas, "An agreement for a road map was reached and that's what we always wanted."
"Stabilising Libya is no sprint, but a marathon," he stressed but explained that "after a phase where things even seemed to be moving backwards in recent months" the parties had "managed another kilometre today."
The meeting, which brought together ministers from 23 countries, as well as UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres, was intended as a follow-up to January's summit in Berlin.
Libya has been torn by conflict since the ousting of former Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi in 2011. The country has recently been split into areas controlled by the UN-recognised Government of National Accord (GNA) in Tripoli and the northwest, and territories held by the eastern-based Libyan National Army in Benghazi, led by General Khalifa Haftar.