MOSCOW. Jan 11 (Interfax) - Khalifa Belqasim Haftar, commander of the Libyan National Army, visited on Wednesday Russia's Admiral Kuznetsov heavy aircraft carrier, which is currently sailing from the Mediterranean Sea to Severomorsk, the Russian Defense Ministry information and mass communications department told Interfax on Wednesday.
"Vice Admiral Sokolov together with the command and the crew of the ship welcomed the commander of the Libyan National Army onboard the aircraft carrier," the Russian Defense Ministry said.
"After a brief tour around the ship, Marshall Haftar held a videoconference with Russian Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu. They discussed pressing issues of the fight against international terrorist groups in the Middle East," the ministry said.
At the end of Haftar's visit to the Russian aircraft carrier, the Russian side gave a batch of first necessity medications for Libyan soldiers and civilians, it said.
Interfax reported earlier that on January 6 the Russian Defense Ministry began downsizing the Russian task force in Syria in implementation of the order of the Russian Supreme Commander-in-Chief. Two ships of the aircraft carrier strike group from Russia's Northern Fleet, the heavy nuclear-powered missile cruiser Pyotr Veliky and the aircraft carrier Admiral Kuznetsov, were the first to leave the conflict area.