Greece's Foreign Minister Nikos Dendias met on Sunday with top officials of Libya's east-based army amid a rising international dispute over undersea natural resources in the region. 

He held talks with representatives of Khalifa Haftar's administration following Turkey's recent maritime agreement with Libya's unity government (GNA), based in Tripoli. 

The agreement effectively expands Turkey's claims over a large gas-rich area of the Mediterranean.

Libya is split between opposed administrations in the east and west. Since April, forces loyal to eastern-based Haftar have been fighting to seize the capital Tripoli.

Dendias met with the east-based forces' Abdullah Al-Thinni and its foreign affairs spokesman Abdel-Hadi Al-Hwaij to discuss relations and the security memorandum of understanding signed between Turkey and the UN-backed government of National Accord (GNA).

Al-Hwaij said his administration rejected the Turkish agreement, adding that the meeting came as a result of consultations and agreements with the Greek government to put an end to what he said was flagrant aggression from Turkey.

Libya's GNA said on Thursday it had ratified a security and military cooperation deal it agreed with Turkey last month, opening the way for potential military help from Ankara as it fights a months-long offensive by its rival forces from the east.

Read more: Why are tensions rising between Greece and Turkey?

Greece says the deal between Turkey and the GNA violates international maritime law and the sovereign rights of Greece and other countries. The pact has led to a major diplomatic dispute between Ankara and Athens and their respective international allies.

On 10 December, Greece urged the United Nations to condemn the maritime jurisdiction deal as "disruptive" to regional peace and stability.

With Cyprus, Egypt, and Israel weighing in on the row, alongside the EU, Russia and the US, the situation threatens to escalate.

Eastern Libyan forces say they have seized ship with Turkish crew

^{CGTN correspondent Michal Bardavid reports from Istanbul}

What is the international backdrop?

Turkey appears to be currently at a crossroads with its partners in Nato and the EU. The US has urged Ankara to stop gas exploration off the coast of Cyprus, with the EU reacting to Turkish drilling by taking steps that could lead to sanctions.

A dispute with France's president Emmanuel Macron and several other Nato nations over Turkey's operations in northern Syria has soured relations, with Washington also threatening sanctions over Turkey's agreement to integrate Russia's S-400 missile defense system, saying the arms deal is incompatible with Turkey's membership of Nato.

Libya has its own reasons for signing the deal and its own international axe to grind.

The war-torn nation has been split since 2014, with the UN-backed GNA government in Tripoli still fighting an ongoing conflict with Libyan National Army (LNA) forces, led by Haftar in the east of the country.

Chairman of the GNA, Fayez al-Sarraj, has felt that support from the UN, as well as their allies in the EU, has been lacking in the fight against Haftar, whereas Erdogan has said he is prepared to put boots on the ground in Libya.