Russian President Vladimir Putin and his Turkish counterpart Recep Tayyip Erdogan discussed the situation in Syria and Libya in a Dec. 11 phone call. The Turkish side initiated the conversation to address the countries' emerging differences over Libya that the two were trying to patch up. A few days earlier, Erdogan had declared his readiness to dispatch soldiers to Libya.

“There is a security company from Russia [in Libya] called Wagner," Erdogan said. "This company sent its security staff there. On the issue of sending soldiers … if Libya makes such a request from us, we can send our personnel there, especially after striking the military security agreement.”

Erdogan and the head of Libya's Government of National Accord, or GNA, Fayez al-Sarraj, signed memorandums Nov. 27 on maritime boundaries and security cooperation, prompting unease in Moscow. Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova stressed that the memorandums “could disrupt preparations for an international meeting on a Libyan settlement scheduled to be held in Berlin later this year.”

Such a stance in Moscow signals concern that Turkey’s military support for the Tripoli-based government may wreck the attempts of Khalifa Hifter’s allies, including Russia, to bolster Hifter's standing ahead of the Berlin talks.