Italy's premier Giuseppe Conte, German Chancellor Angela Merkel and French President Emmanuel Macron on Friday issuing a joint call for a lasting ceasefire in war-torn Libya for its rival factions to resume peace talks.
The joint appeal came in a statement released after a meeting between Conte, Merkel and Macron on the sidelines of a European Union leaders summit in Brussels.
The statement called on "all Libyan and international parties to refrain from taking military action, genuinely commit to a comprehensive and lasting cessation of hostilities and re-engage into a credible United Nations-led negotiation."
The leaders also reaffirmed their full support for the UN and its special envoy to Libya, Ghassan Salame.
"Lasting peace and stability in Libya will only come through a political solution," the statement said.
Conte, Merkel and Macron vowed the planned conference in Libya - now likely to be held on an as-yet-unspecified date next year - would be a and praised their foreign ministers' efforts to this end.
"They reiterated their firm commitment to the unity, territorial integrity, independence and sovereignty of Libya and the objective of a stable, secure, democratic and prosperous Libya in the interests of the Libyan people and of the entire Euro-Mediterranean region," the statement ended.
