Fayez al-Serraj

The European Union will not agree to a political solution to Libya's factional conflict unless Turkey and Libya abandon a maritime accord they signed in November, Greek Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis said on Thursday.

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan has called on Europe to support its work in Libya, where it is providing military support to the internationally-recognized government, if it wants to end the conflict there.

Erdoğan made his remarks in a column published on the Politico website on Jan. 18, ahead of a summit in Berlin on Jan. 19 that will try to stabilize the country.

The agreement on maritime boundaries in the Mediterranean signed between Turkey and the Tripoli-based Government of National Accord (GNA) is in violation of international law and is therefore invalid, Libyan military commander Khalifa Haftar said after a meeting with Greek Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis in Athens on Friday.

Germany and the United Nations will push rival Libyan camps and their foreign backers fighting over the capital to agree on Sunday to a truce and monitoring mechanism as first steps towards peace, diplomats and a draft communique said.

Berlin hopes to get all international players to use their influence to push for progress on Libya peace talks, a German Foreign Ministry spokesman said on Wednesday, setting out modest ambitions for a Berlin peace conference this weekend.

Spokesman Rainer Breul said the aim was "broader" than the Moscow conference, whose aim had been to secure a ceasefire.

Turkish Defense Minister Hulusi Akar said on Wednesday it was too early to say that a ceasefire in Libya had collapsed after Khalifa Haftar, commander of eastern Libyan forces, failed to sign a binding truce at talks this week.

European leaders warned Libya's internationally recognised prime minister on Wednesday against allowing Turkish troops on Libyan soil or agreeing to a natural gas deal with Turkey to avoid worsening the latest turmoil in the country.

The Turkish government is sending to parliament on Monday a bill mandating the deployment of troops to Libya, said Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu, accelerating a high-stakes plan that Ankara outlined last week.

Turkey's main opposition party said on Monday it opposes a bill to allow a troop deployment to Libya, arguing such a move would exacerbate the country's conflict and cause it to spread across the region.

It took just hours for the Russian government to react to the declaration of Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan that he plans to send troops to Libya to bolster the government of Triipoli led by Fayez al-Serraj.

Ankara has used as a pretext an invitation that the Tripoli government issued for military assistance from Ankara.