LONDON: The UAE and Egypt said they welcomed an announcement that Libya’s rival administrations have agreed to resume talks on reaching a cease-fire in the country. Khalifa Haftar’s eastern Libyan National Army (LNA) and the Tripoli based Government of National Accord (GNA) have agreed to resume cease-fire negotiations following days of heavy fighting, the UN said on Tuesday. In a joint statement late on Tuesday, the Egyptian and Emirati foreign ministries “called for parties to fully commit to the political process under the auspices of the United Nations and the Berlin Conference”. They added that the political process is the only solution to achieving peace and unity in Libya. The Berlin conference in January resulted in efforts to reach a cease-fire but that initiative had stalled before this week’s announcement that parties were ready to resume talks. Meanwhile, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said on Wednesday that the presence of Russian prisoners in the Libyan capital of Tripoli was the main obstacle to cooperation between the countries. Lavrov made the comment after talks in Moscow with the GNA"s Deputy Prime Minister Ahmed Maiteeg. (With Reuters)