The Berlin summit will become the continuation of the peace effort that started in Moscow earlier this month when the warring parties set behind the table for the first time.Greece has offered to send in its forces to assist claiming to want to assist with aiding the ceasefire, notably providing support to the side opposing Turkey:
The Sunday's conference will bring together the Government of National Accord (GNA) of Prime Minister Fayez al-Sarraj and the Libyan National Army (LNA), headed by general Khalifa Haftar, as well as representatives of Germany, Algeria, Great Britain, Egypt, UAE, China, Turkey and France.
During his stay in the German capital, President Putin will discuss ways of bringing calm to the North African state after almost a decade of turmoil, including the possibility of swift cessation of hostilities, reconciliation of the warring parties and launch a broad political dialogue under the UN supervision, the Kremlin said.
The key agreements reached by the sides will be recorded in the final statement after the talks.
However, the talks are still viewed as a breakthrough with both sides upholding the ceasefire since, despite no deal being officially signed.
On Friday, Haftar wrote a letter to Vladimir Putin, thanking the Russian leader for his efforts to settle the Libyan conflict and expressing readiness to come back to Moscow to continue the peace talks.
Once prosperous, Libya remains divided since 2011 when a popular uprising, backed by a NATO's bombing campaign, led to the overthrow and murder of longtime leader Muammar Gaddafi.
Just days after Turkey vowed "to teach a lesson" to Libya's strongman General Haftar, Greece - still at odds with Ankara - told him that it could send in some "forces," tasked with observing a truce and "removal of mercenaries."More on Greece's possible entrance into fray:
Nikos Dendias, Greece's Foreign Minister, had "a long conversation" with General Khalifa Haftar, who paid a low-key visit to Athens ahead of a Libya peace conference in Berlin. "We want a ceasefire, the removal of mercenaries and the cancellation of illegal agreements," Dendias said without elaborating.
The chief diplomat told Haftar, who leads the Libyan National Army (LNA), that Greece was ready to help "with [deploying] forces" that would monitor the ceasefire with the rival Tripoli-based Government of National Accord (GNA).
"All of this is a contribution to the future of the Libyan people. We want it to be a modern democratic country," Dendias proclaimed.
Ankara already sent troops to support the internationally-recognized Tripoli government. Upping the ante, President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has vowed to teach "putschist" Haftar a "lesson" if he doesn't hold up his offensive against the GNA.
At this stage, both Libyan rivals are sticking to a ceasefire jointly brokered by Turkey and Russia, although they continue to blame each other for violating its terms. Although carefully worded and evasive, the Greek minister's remarks may add some geopolitical flavor to the Libyan conflict and beyond.
Turkey has a number of territorial disputes with its NATO neighbor Greece, and both countries consistently engage in close-call encounters both at sea and in the air, not to mention historic grievances over Cyprus and other issues.
Greece has been remarkably pro-active on the diplomatic front, threatening that it will veto any European peace deal on Libya unless a Turkey-GNA agreement on maritime borders is annulled.
Athens maintains that the deal, which sets out oil and gas exploration areas in the Mediterranean between Libya and Turkey, is "unacceptable and illegal" because it ignores Greece's own claims in the area, as Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis put it.
Greek involvement empowers Haftar, weakens Germany's stance at Berlin talks
Greece will still affect the negotiating process despite not being at the peace summit in Berlin, Grigory Lukyanov, senior lecturer at the Moscow-based Higher School of Economics, told RT. And Athens shouldn't complain about not being invited since "showed absolutely no interest in Libya until recently.
"But now Athens' involvement in the crisis sees "the number of countries, who actively oppose any Turkish actions in Libya increasing and, because of that, support for Haftar is growing." Greece has already expanded its contacts with UAE, Jordan and Egypt, with Lebanon, which is also interested in gas exploration in the Mediterranean, likely to join the pack too, he said.
"For the conference it means that Haftar will feel a lot more confident, and the positions of Germany, which wants some kind of agreement achieved between the warring sides in Libya, will be weakened."
EU has been unable to form a unified stance on the Libyan crisis, and that will be even harder to do with the Greek-Turkish strife added to the mix, Lukyanov pointed out.
Relations between Athens and Ankara, both NATO states, have always been "very difficult," but they're "especially bad now after Greece refused to hand back the Turkish officers, who fled the country after a failed military coup attempt in 2016."
Lukyanov says it's understandable that Athens treated the military cooperation and maritime boundaries deal between Ankara and GNA as a "hostile move," since it threatens its economic security and affects national pride.
Greece could find itself in an "indirect" conflict with Turkey if Ankara pursues drilling off the coast of Crete, Chrysanthopoulos told RT, noting that newly inked economic agreements between Turkey and the GNA affect Athens' own economic zone. He predicted that, while Greece's presence in Libya might escalate tensions, a potential standoff between Athens and Ankara wouldn't necessarily happen in Libyan territory.See also:
Greece isn't trying to provoke a standoff with Turkey by making a harsh statement on Libya, Aleskey Khlebnikov, Middle East expert for the Carnegie Moscow Center, told RT.
It's only trying to "attract more attention from other European countries" to the conflict and persuade major EU players, like Germany and France, "to make some decisive moves in order to balance the warring sides in Libya," he said.
Athens won't send its troops to Libya because it is an EU member, and the bloc isn't interested in any escalation. The other reason is that Greece does not have "enough military capabilities" to carry out such an operation. Even if it is provided, "Greek support won't be enough to give Haftar a decisive advantage over GNA's Prime Minister, Fayez al-Sarraj," Khlebnikov added.
Journalist Abdel Bari Atwan thinks that Greek troops in Libya could be the "first step" towards a proxy war between Ankara and Athens, as Turkey has already sent troops to support Tripoli. He noted that the conflict in North Africa could potentially escalate and "divide" NATO, as well as end up dragging "superpowers" into the fray.
We never involved politics in our energy relations. And if we did, we don't have political problems with India. We are the secured source of energy for India.
Comment: Let it be noted that Radio Farha is affiliated with the US mouthpiece RFE/RL and therefore toes the Western line in amplifying its propagandists, such as the New York Times. The article contains no links, assuming that most readers will not bother to check its assertions.
As to the claim by Rouhani that the crash could have been caused by interference with, and 'spoofing' of transponder communications, that is a valid question. The technology has existed for quite some time. Nine planes had previously taken off (however unadvisedly) from Tehran's airport. Why would THIS one be different?