(Bloomberg) -- Prime Minister Fayez al-Sarraj called for international pressure to fully restore Libya’s oil exports, saying the port blockage by a commander seeking to unseat him shows he isn’t ready for peace.

Sarraj denounced Khalifa Haftar, his Russian-backed antagonist in the OPEC country’s civil war, on the eve of peace talks in Berlin. Haftar “is not looking for a peaceful solution or a political solution,” Sarraj said in an interview on Saturday.

Peace talks in Moscow broke down after Haftar refused to sign a proposed truce brokered by Russia and Turkey after Sarraj, who has Turkish backing, accepted it. Still, with Russian President Vladimir Putin and Turkish leader Recep Tayyip Erdogan due to attend the Berlin talks, Sarraj said he was “cautiously optimistic.” Haftar also is expected to attend.

Ahead of the Berlin conference, Haftar blocked oil exports at ports under his control, slashing Libya’s output by more than half.

“The signal sent by the international community’s lack of action after Haftar shut down the oilfields is negative,” Sarraj said. “There should have been a decisive stance. It means that the man you’re bringing in isn’t looking for a solution.”

Participants at the Berlin talks need to pressure Haftar’s side, Sarraj said. Though he didn’t specify which countries he had in mind, Egypt and the United Arab Emirates also have been aiding the eastern commander’s push on Tripoli, the capital.

Sarraj, who heads Libya’s United Nations-recognized government, called the oil shutdown a “pressure card” used by Haftar to deflect from “his military failure.”

He defended his decision to turn to Turkey for military assistance, saying Europe and other western powers left him in the lurch.

“Where were you?” Sarraj said. “Why didn’t you step up? The field was open to you.

To contact the reporter on this story: Samer Khalil Al-Atrush in Berlin at skhalilalatr@bloomberg.net

To contact the editors responsible for this story: Rosalind Mathieson at rmathieson3@bloomberg.net, Tony Czuczka

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