The Libya peace talks may have broken down after a day but Russia and Turkey, who sponsored a ceasefire, seem determined to pursue a deal amid speculation of wider interests in the negotiations.
While the focus has been on Libya, there is growing suspicion the talks are linked to the nine-year civil war in Syria, where, as in Libya, Moscow and Ankara back opposing sides.
Observers have said the joint mediation efforts mirror those in Syria, where Turkey, Russia and Iran launched the Astana process in 2017 aimed at creating a post-conflict roadmap for Syria.
“There’s a connection between Libya and Syria,” said Alexey Khlebnikov, a Middle East expert and Russian foreign policy analyst at the Russian International Affairs Council in Moscow.
“Turkey started to take more aggressive and decisive moves on the Libya front as it has no room to expand its influence in Syria. Libya serves as additional leverage towards Russia.”
Since Russia became directly involved in 2015, Turkey’s goals in Syria, which once included the overthrow of President Bashar Al Assad, have become more distant.
The rebels it backs have found themselves isolated in the northwestern province of Idlib, seemingly at the mercy of Syrian government attacks backed by Russian air power, while hundreds of thousands of displaced civilians have headed towards the Turkish border.
October’s incursion into northeast Syria to push back Kurdish fighters has seen Turkey’s initial goal of establishing a broad security corridor along its border between the River Euphrates and Iraq reduced to a much smaller sliver of land jointly patrolled by Turkish and Russian troops. Syrian regime forces have also moved into the area.
The Libya talks in Moscow came after Russian President Vladimir Putin and Turkey’s Recep Tayyip Erdogan surprised the world last week by announcing a January 12 ceasefire between the rival factions.
On Monday, Field Marshal Khalifa Haftar, who heads the eastern-based forces that have besieged Tripoli since April, and Fayez Al Sarraj, head of the Government of National Accord, were due to formalise the truce but instead left without an agreement.
Moscow maintains ties with both sides.
Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov urged all sides to return to negotiations while Mr Erdogan told his party’s MPs on Tuesday that it was “now up to Putin and his team” to bring Mr Haftar back to the table.
Despite their differences over Syria, Turkey has become increasing close to the Kremlin with improved defence, trade and energy links in recent years. Last week’s ceasefire announcement took place after the Istanbul unveiling of a Black Sea gas pipeline to supply Russian gas to Europe via Turkey.
“When Putin and Erdogan met on January 8 they discussed both Syria and Libya and what’s interesting is that after the meeting, on January 12, Damascus also announced a ceasefire [in Idlib],” Mr Khlebnikov said.
He noted that it was “indicative” that had Mr Putin stopped off in the Syrian capital before arriving in Istanbul. “Most probably it was to make sure Assad was ready to commit to a cessation of hostilities so [Putin] could strike further deals with Erdogan.”
The Moscow summit was an attempt for Russia to extend an Astana-like process to Libya, Mr Khlebnikov added.
It also saw Turkish intelligence chief Hakan Fidan meet his Syrian counterpart, Ali Mamlouk. Although they have met since Turkey severed ties with Damascus in 2012, it was the first time such a meeting had been officially acknowledged.
A Turkish official said they discussed working against the Kurdish People’s Protection Units, or YPG, which controlled Syria’s northeast prior to Turkey’s incursion in October.
Syrian state media said Mr Mamlouk called for Turkish forces to leave Syria and respect its sovereignty and territorial integrity. Turkey controls swathes of northern Aleppo province as well as having troops acting as observers in Idlib.
“Turkey needs Syria right now because Syrian intelligence have a far better handle on which terrorist groups might be a threat to Turkey,” said Kamal Alam, a London-based military analyst specialising in Turkey and Syria.
“This includes Syrian groups that Turkey’s backed themselves who could turn against Turkey and of course Kurdish groups which Syria has always had better intelligence about.”
He added: “The Syrians have told Turkey ‘We will not give you any intelligence cooperation until you withdraw forces or stop backing terrorists.’”
Referring to Russian-Turkish ties, Mr Alam said the two hold “almost daily” exchanges on joint interests, whether it be Syria, defence, energy or trade.
“The Turkey-Russia relationship is moving to an extremely important strategic economic relationship,” he said, adding that both countries are aiming to form a three-way deal with Syria for post-conflict reconstruction.
Various Artists
Habibi Funk: An Eclectic Selection Of Music From The Arab World (Habibi Funk)
'The Batman'
Stars:Robert Pattinson
Director:Matt Reeves
Rating: 5/5
COMPANY PROFILE
Founders: Alhaan Ahmed, Alyina Ahmed and Maximo Tettamanzi
Total funding: Self funded
The Great Derangement: Climate Change and the Unthinkable
Amitav Ghosh, University of Chicago Press
MATCH INFO
Uefa Champions League quarter-final, second leg (first-leg score)
Porto (0) v Liverpool (2), Wednesday, 11pm UAE
Match is on BeIN Sports
Pari
Produced by: Clean Slate Films (Anushka Sharma, Karnesh Sharma) & KriArj Entertainment
Director: Prosit Roy
Starring: Anushka Sharma, Parambrata Chattopadhyay, Ritabhari Chakraborty, Rajat Kapoor, Mansi Multani
Three stars
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The permutations for UAE going to the 2018 World Cup finals
To qualify automatically
UAE must beat Iraq.
Australia must lose in Japan and at home to Thailand, with their losing margins and the UAE's winning margin over Iraq being enough to overturn a goal difference gap of eight.
Saudi Arabia must lose to Japan, with their losing margin and the UAE's winning margin over Iraq being enough to overturn a goal difference gap of eight.
To finish third and go into a play-off with the other third-placed AFC side for a chance to reach the inter-confederation play-off match
UAE must beat Iraq.
Saudi Arabia must lose to Japan, with their losing margin and the UAE's winning margin over Iraq being enough to overturn a goal difference gap of eight.
Mercedes-AMG GT 63 S E Performance: the specs
Engine: 4.0-litre twin-turbo V8 plus rear-mounted electric motor
Power: 843hp at N/A rpm
Torque: 1470Nm N/A rpm
Transmission: 9-speed auto
Fuel consumption: 8.6L/100km
On sale: October to December
Price: From Dh875,000 (estimate)
MEDIEVIL%20(1998)
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'C'mon C'mon'
Director:Mike Mills
Stars:Joaquin Phoenix, Gaby Hoffmann, Woody Norman
Rating: 4/5
Our family matters legal consultant
Name: Hassan Mohsen Elhais
Position: legal consultant with Al Rowaad Advocates and Legal Consultants.
The specs
Engine: 1.5-litre turbo
Power: 181hp
Torque: 230Nm
Transmission: 6-speed automatic
Starting price: Dh79,000
On sale: Now
Tour de France 2017: Stage 5
Vittel - La Planche de Belles Filles, 160.5km
It is a shorter stage, but one that will lead to a brutal uphill finish. This is the third visit in six editions since it was introduced to the race in 2012. Reigning champion Chris Froome won that race.
UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
MATCH INFO
Liverpool 2 (Van Dijk 18', 24')
Brighton 1 (Dunk 79')
Red card: Alisson (Liverpool)
COMPANY PROFILE
Name: Almnssa
Started: August 2020
Founder: Areej Selmi
Based: Gaza
Sectors: Internet, e-commerce
Investments: Grants/private funding
Jigra
Starring: Alia Bhatt, Vedang Raina, Manoj Pahwa, Harsh Singh
Our family matters legal consultant
Name: Hassan Mohsen Elhais
Position: legal consultant with Al Rowaad Advocates and Legal Consultants.
SCHEDULE FOR SHOW COURTS
Centre Court - from 4pm (UAE time)
Angelique Kerber (1) v Irina Falconi
Martin Klizan v Novak Djokovic (2)
Alexandr Dolgopolov v Roger Federer (3)
Court One - from 4pm
Milos Raonic (6) v Jan-Lennard Struff
Karolina Pliskova (3) v Evgeniya Rodina
Dominic Thiem (8) v Vasek Pospisil
Court Two - from 2.30pm
Juan Martin Del Potro (29) v Thanasi Kokkinakis
Agnieszka Radwanska (9) v Jelena Jankovic
Jeremy Chardy v Tomas Berdych (11)
Ons Jabeur v Svetlana Kuznetsova (7)
How to protect yourself when air quality drops
Install an air filter in your home.
Close your windows and turn on the AC.
Shower or bath after being outside.
Wear a face mask.
Stay indoors when conditions are particularly poor.
If driving, turn your engine off when stationary.
Key changes
Commission caps
For life insurance products with a savings component, Peter Hodgins of Clyde & Co said different caps apply to the saving and protection elements:
• For the saving component, a cap of 4.5 per cent of the annualised premium per year (which may not exceed 90 per cent of the annualised premium over the policy term).
• On the protection component, there is a cap of 10 per cent of the annualised premium per year (which may not exceed 160 per cent of the annualised premium over the policy term).
• Indemnity commission, the amount of commission that can be advanced to a product salesperson, can be 50 per cent of the annualised premium for the first year or 50 per cent of the total commissions on the policy calculated.
• The remaining commission after deduction of the indemnity commission is paid equally over the premium payment term.
• For pure protection products, which only offer a life insurance component, the maximum commission will be 10 per cent of the annualised premium multiplied by the length of the policy in years.
Disclosure
Customers must now be provided with a full illustration of the product they are buying to ensure they understand the potential returns on savings products as well as the effects of any charges. There is also a “free-look” period of 30 days, where insurers must provide a full refund if the buyer wishes to cancel the policy.
“The illustration should provide for at least two scenarios to illustrate the performance of the product,” said Mr Hodgins. “All illustrations are required to be signed by the customer.”
Another illustration must outline surrender charges to ensure they understand the costs of exiting a fixed-term product early.
Illustrations must also be kept updatedand insurers must provide information on the top five investment funds available annually, including at least five years' performance data.
“This may be segregated based on the risk appetite of the customer (in which case, the top five funds for each segment must be provided),” said Mr Hodgins.
Product providers must also disclose the ratio of protection benefit to savings benefits. If a protection benefit ratio is less than 10 per cent "the product must carry a warning stating that it has limited or no protection benefit" Mr Hodgins added.