CAIRO (AP) — Libya’s parliament unanimously approved a contested maritime agreement with Turkey on Tuesday, reversing years of opposition and reviving a dispute with Egypt, Greece and Cyprus over rights in the eastern Mediterranean.
The House of Representatives, the eastern-based parliament aligned with military commander Khalifa Hifter, voted to adopt the memorandum of understanding signed in 2019 by Turkey and Libya’s then-government in Tripoli, the Government of National Accord.
Greece’s Foreign Ministry rejected the vote, saying in a statement that it “does not alter the illegal, invalid and groundless nature of the memorandum.”
The ministry said Turkey and Libya do not have opposite or adjacent coasts that could provide a legal basis for delimiting maritime zones. It said the agreement disregards the rights of Greek islands, which lie between the Turkish and Libyan coasts.
“Geography and the international Law of the Sea cannot be changed by unilateral, legally unfounded parliamentary decisions,” the ministry said. It added that Greece had informed its partners and allies and “will take all appropriate measures to safeguard its sovereign rights.”
Cyprus also condemned the vote, calling the memorandum “illegal, null, and void.”
The Libyan-Turkey agreement defines maritime jurisdiction areas between the two countries in the Mediterranean, where major natural gas discoveries in recent years have fueled competing claims to offshore waters.
Lawmakers also repealed two resolutions passed in 2020, parliamentary spokesman Abdullah Bliheg said. One rejected agreements with Turkey, while the other cut political ties with Ankara. Parliament had opposed the accords at a time when Turkey was backing the Tripoli government against Haftar’s forces.
Officials in both camps welcomed Tuesday’s vote. Saddam Haftar, Khalifa Haftar’s son, said in a statement that the decisions reflected “a move toward overcoming disputes of the past.” He called the maritime agreement a tool to protect Libya’s economic interests in the Mediterranean and described Turkey as “a significant regional power.”
The Foreign Ministry of the Tripoli-based government, led by Prime Minister Abdul Hamid Dbeibah, called the vote “a positive development” for relations with Turkey. It said cooperation would proceed “in accordance with the relevant rules and principles of international law.”
Dbeibah also met Tuesday in Tripoli with Turkey’s intelligence chief, Ibrahim Kalin. A government statement said they discussed security, regional developments, and migration.
The European Union has said the agreement violates the rights of third countries. Turkey is not a party to the U.N. Convention on the Law of the Sea.
Egypt, a longtime backer of Haftar and Libya’s eastern parliament, also rejected the accord. In August 2020, Cairo and Athens signed their own maritime agreement in response. Greek officials have said it effectively nullifies the Turkish-Libyan deal.
Tuesday’s vote means Egypt’s main allies in Libya now endorse an agreement Cairo has opposed. Egyptian Foreign Minister Badr Abdelatty said he discussed the situation in Libya and the eastern Mediterranean in a phone call with his Greek counterpart on Tuesday, without directly mentioning the vote.
The vote follows a rapprochement in recent years between Turkey and eastern Libya.
Libya plunged into chaos after a NATO-backed uprising toppled and killed longtime ruler Moammar Gadhafi in 2011. The oil-rich country later split between rival governments in the east and west.
Dbeibah heads the internationally recognized government in Tripoli, in the west, while Prime Minister Ossama Hammad leads the eastern administration. Haftar, who commands the Libyan National Army, also holds power in the east.
The North African country is also a major transit point for migrants from Africa and the Middle East fleeing war and economic hardship and attempting dangerous sea crossings to Europe.
FILE - Libyan militia commander Gen. Khalifa Hifter meets with Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov in Moscow, Aug. 14, 2017. (AP Photo/Ivan Sekretarev, File)
KYIV, Ukraine (AP) — Russia unleashed another missile and drone blitz of civilian areas in Ukraine, killing at least four people, officials said Tuesday, as Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy scrambled to ensure more American and European help during a visit to Norway.
U.S. envoy Steve Witkoff, who along with Jared Kushner has tried without success to steer Russia and Ukraine toward a settlement and end the war, was also expected in Oslo, the Norwegian government said. Kushner, who is U.S. President Donald Trump’s son-in-law, will attend the meeting by videoconference.
Norwegian Prime Minister Jonas Gahr Støre and Finnish President Alexander Stubb were due to meet with Zelenskyy in Norway's capital.
With further U.S. support for Ukraine in doubt as relations between Zelenskyy and Trump sour again, the Ukrainian leader said that he spoke with U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio, who is on a trip to Asia.
That conversation came after Zelenskyy told a bipartisan group of U.S. lawmakers on Monday that he believes “some political decision has been made to slow down ... support for us.”
Ukraine nearly has run out of American-made Patriot air defense interceptors that it needs to stop Russia’s ballistic missiles, according to Zelenskyy, who has pleaded for Washington to send more. But he said that the Pentagon is delaying the delivery of missiles that other countries have purchased for Ukraine.
Zelenskyy also said that he sought Rubio’s help to ensure that the U.S. continues to share vital intelligence with Ukraine after Kyiv received no, or late, warnings about Russian missile attacks in recent days.
On top of that, Zelenskyy said that speed restrictions were still in place on Kyiv’s use of the military-grade version of U.S. company SpaceX’s satellite internet service, hampering battlefield operations.
Trump has also waived sanctions on Russia, a move which Zelenskyy slammed as helping Russian President Vladimir Putin push on with Moscow’s full-scale invasion, which will hit the five-year mark in February.
Zelenskyy said that he had “a substantive conversation” with Rubio.
“I am grateful for his readiness to help and his clear position,” Zelenskyy said on social media.
With the Russian army held up on the front line, Putin is trying to bomb Ukraine into submission while robbing it of vital U.S. support, Western leaders and analysts say.
European countries, worried by Russia’s plans on the continent, are trying to take up the slack of any falloff in U.S. supplies, but some key assets are American-made.
Four people were killed and 27 others wounded, including children, in Russian missile and drone attacks on the Kyiv region over the past day, regional police said.
Three people were killed and six wounded in the Obukhiv district, where warehouses were damaged, police said. In the Bucha district, one woman was killed and 21 people were wounded, eight of them children, and hundreds of buildings were damaged, according to police.
Russia also attacked energy facilities in Ukraine’s southern Odesa region overnight, causing power outages in some areas, said Oleh Kiper, head of the regional military administration. No one was injured, he said.
The Russian Defense Ministry said in a statement that its forces carried out drone strikes on logistics centers, port infrastructure, and three cargo ships in the port of Reni in the Odesa region. It said another bulk carrier was hit at sea on its way to Odesa.
Meanwhile, air defenses intercepted 136 Ukrainian drones over multiple Russian regions overnight, the Defense Ministry said.
A fire broke out at an unspecified industrial facility in the Tambov region as a result of the attack, Gov. Yevgeny Pervyshov said.
Barry Hatton reported from Lisbon, Portugal.
Follow the AP’s coverage of the war in Ukraine at https://apnews.com/hub/russia-ukraine
Rescuers with a search dog look for victims among the rubble of a house after a Russian air attack in Kharkiv, Ukraine, Tuesday, Oct. 20, 2026. (AP Photo/Andrii Marienko)
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky speaks during a press conference on Tuesday, Oct. 20, 2026 in Oslo, Norway. (Lise Åserud/NTB Scanpix via AP)
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyj, Prime Minister Jonas Gahr Støre, and Finnish President Alexander Stubb speak during a press conference on Tuesday, Oct. 20, 2026 in Oslo, Norway. (Lise Åserud/NTB Scanpix via AP)
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyj and Prime Minister Jonas Gahr Støre speak during a press conference on Tuesday, Oct. 20, 2026 in Oslo, Norway. (Lise Åserud /NTB Scanpix via AP)
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky speaks during a press conference on Tuesday, Oct. 20, 2026 in Oslo, Norway. (Lise Åserud/NTB Scanpix via AP)
A man looks at a body of a man killed in a Russian strike on Chabany, near Kyiv, Ukraine, Tuesday, Oct. 20, 2026. (AP Photo/Danylo Antoniuk) CORRECTION: Byline is Danylo Antoniuk, not Dan Bashakov.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, center, poses with Norwegian Prime Minister Jonas Gahr Støre and Finnish President Alexander Stubb, left, in Oslo, Norway, Tuesday, Oct. 20, 2026. (Heiko Junge, Pool Photo via AP)
Norway King Haakon VIII, right, welcomes Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy on the occasion of their audience at the Royal Palace, in Oslo, Tuesday, Oct. 20, 2026. (Ole Berg-Rusten/NTB Scanpix via AP)
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, center, hugs U.S. envoy Steve Witkoff as Norwegian Prime Minister Jonas Gahr Støre, right, and Finnish President Alexander Stubb look on, in Oslo, Norway, Tuesday, Oct. 20, 2026. (Heiko Junge/Pool Photo via AP)
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, center, stands beside Norwegian Prime Minister Jonas Gahr Støre, right, Finnish President Alexander Stubb, 2nd left, and U. S. envoy Steve Witkoff, in Oslo, Norway, Tuesday, Oct. 20, 2026. (Heiko Junge, Pool Photo via AP)
U.S. Envoy Steve Witkoff walks in Oslo, Norway, Tuesday, Oct. 20, 2026. (Jonas Been Henriksen /NTB Scanpix via AP)
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, center, meets Norwegian Prime Minister Jonas Gahr Støre and Finnish President Alexander Stubb, left, in Oslo, Norway, Tuesday, Oct. 20, 2026. (Heiko Junge, Pool Photo via AP)
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy meets Norway's King Haakon in Oslo, Norway, Tuesday, Oct. 20, 2026. (Ole Berg-Rusten/NTB Scanpix via AP)
A man looks at a body of a man killed in a Russian strike on Chabany, near Kyiv, Ukraine, Tuesday, Oct. 20, 2026. (AP Photo/Dan Bashakov)
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy lands at Oslo Airport, Norway, Tuesday, Oct. 20, 2026. (Stian Lysberg Solum/NTB Scanpix via AP)
U.S. envoy Steve Witkoff lands at Oslo Airport, Norway, Tuesday, Oct. 20, 2026. (Stian Lysberg Solum/NTB Scanpix via AP)
U.S. envoy Steve Witkoff lands at Oslo Airport, Norway, Tuesday, Oct. 20, 2026. (Stian Lysberg Solum/NTB Scanpix via AP)
In this photo provided by Ukraine's 65th Mechanized Brigade press service, soldiers react as they came back after a long time mission on the frontline in the Zaporizhzhia region, Ukraine, Monday, Oct. 19, 2026. (Andriy Andriyenko/Ukraine's 65th Mechanized Brigade via AP)
