*Erdogan, Putin, Maas, Pompeo and Cavusoglu also discuss the latest developments in Libya
Hectic discussions were held on Monday by senior officials of Qatar, Turkey, the US, Russia and Germany on the latest situation in Libya, which has been racked by internal strife since the death of former dictator Moamer Gaddafi.
HE the Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of State for Defence Affairs Dr Khalid bin Mohamed al-Attiyah and Turkish Minister of Defence Hulusi Akar met on Monday with Chairman of the Presidential Council of the Government of National Accord of Libya, Fayez al-Sarraj in Tripoli.
During the meeting, they discussed the latest developments in Libya. The meeting was attended by Qatar's ambassador to Libya Mohamed bin Nasser bin Jassim al-Thani along with a lineup of senior officers of the Qatar Armed Forces.
HE the Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of State for Defence Affairs and the Turkish defence minister met with Libyan Defence Ministry's Undersecretary Salah al-Namroush, Commander of Central Region Major General Mohamed al-Haddad and Tripoli region Commander Major General Abdulbasit Marwan.
During the meeting, they discussed the latest developments in Libya.
The meeting was attended by Qatar's Ambassador to Libya and senior officials of the Qatari Armed Forces.
HE Dr al-Attiyah arrived in Libya earlier on Monday on an official visit.
The Turkish and Russian presidents spoke over the phone on Monday to discuss the latest developments in war-weary Libya and Eastern Mediterranean as well as other regional issues, a QNA report from Ankara said.
Turkey's Recep Tayyip Erdogan and his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin stressed the importance of maintaining close cooperation and dialogue in this regard, QNA quoted Turkey's Directorate of Communications, as saying.
The two leaders also addressed steps to enhance bilateral relations, especially in tourism, transport, energy, and economy.
Erdogan and Putin also agreed to maintain contact between Turkey and Russia on Syria via military and diplomatic channels.
A QNA report from Santo Domingo said Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu met on Sunday with US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, on the sidelines of their visit to the Dominican Republic.
Pompeo said that he discussed with the Turkish Foreign Minister the crisis of the disputed areas in the eastern Mediterranean. Following the meeting, Pompeo tweeted that they discussed "the urgent need to reduce tensions in the Eastern Mediterranean."
Turkey's Anadolu Agency quoted Cavusoglu as saying that the two sides reviewed the bilateral relations and key issues, mainly Libya. The two sides agreed to continue consultation on the Libyan file at the level of experts.
AFP adds from Tripoli: Libya faces a "deceptive calm" since fighting stalled around Sirte, the central hometown of fallen dictator Kadhafi, German Foreign Minister Heiko Maas warned during a surprise visit on Monday.
Germany has tried to broker peace in the war-torn North African nation.
"In Libya at the moment we are observing a deceptive calm," he told journalists in Tripoli, seat of the UN-recognised Government of National Accord (GNA).
Libya has been in chaos since an uprising toppled Gadhafi in 2011, and has become a major departure point for desperate migrants trying to reach Europe with the help of traffickers.
Eastern-based military commander Khalifa Haftar launched an offensive in April 2019 to seize Tripoli.
After 14 months of fierce fighting, Turkish-backed pro-GNA forces expelled Haftar's troops from much of western Libya and pushed them eastwards to Sirte, a gateway to Libya's rich oil fields and export terminals.
Maas urged the different players in Libya to find ways out of "this very dangerous situation" and backed a UN proposal to establish a demilitarised zone around Sirte, some 450km east of Tripoli.
