Russia About To Intervene In Libya?!

The last time Russia made a statement about disproportionate use of force in a conflict was during the Georgia vs. South Ossetia conflict in August of 2008.
Russia intervened and within days Georgia, the U.S. backed nation was soundly defeated.


Russia
Moscow alarmed over NATO's disproportionate use of force in Libya - vice-premier
NATO strikes on Libya amount to land operation - Moscow
Results of UN resolutions on Libya shows 'can't take anyone's word' - Lavrov
http://en.rian.ru/russia/20110605/164450244.html


Moscow is alarmed over NATO's disproportionate use of force in Libya and the alliance's clear support for one side in the Libyan conflict, Russian Deputy Prime Minister Sergei Ivanov said on Sunday.

Moscow is concerned "over increasingly frequent disproportionate use of military force in the country where the nature and the parameters of interference from outside have been clearly defined by the UN decisions," Ivanov said.

The UN Security Council adopted a resolution imposing a no-fly zone over Libya on March 17, paving the way for a military operation against embattled Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi which began two days later. The command of the operation was shifted from a U.S.-led international coalition to NATO in late March.

By supporting the UN Security Council resolution on Libya, Russia proceeded from the fact that it was aimed at strengthening peace and preventing the escalation of the conflict and the death of civilians, he said.

"However, NATO's actions camouflaged by the arbitrary interpretation of the UN Security Council resolution cannot be characterized otherwise than interference in the civil war on the side of one of the conflicting parties," Ivanov said.

"We believe that all the parties to the Libya conflict must settle their disagreements peacefully through a dialog, in which the UN and regional organizations should play their respective role," he said.

The revolt which began in mid-February in Libya against Gaddafi's forty-year rule has already claimed thousands of lives, with Gaddafi's troops maintaining their combat capabilities despite NATO airstrikes against them.

SINGAPORE, June 5 (RIA Novosti)

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Russia: NATO 'one step' from land war in LibyaAP –
Sun Jun 5, 3:00 am ET
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20110605/ap_on_re_us/libya_russia


SINGAPORE – Russian Deputy Prime Minister Sergei Ivanov says NATO is "one step" from sending troops into Libya in a bid to help rebels remove Moammar Gadhafi from power.

Ivanov said Sunday at an Asian security conference in Singapore that Russia didn't know that a United Nations resolution it supported to protect civilians and shut down Libyan air space would lead to a land operation.

British and French attack helicopters struck for the first time inside Libya on Saturday. NATO had previously relied on attack jets generally flying above 15,000 feet (4,500 meters).

NATO airstrikes have kept the outgunned rebels from being overrun, but the rebels have been unable to mount an effective offensive against Gadhafi's better-equipped forces.