Russia slams the West’s intervention in Libya
In one of the strongest criticisms yet, Russian Foreign minister Sergei Lavrov said the coalition air attacks amounted to intervention in the civil war, which were not authorised by resolution 1973. “There is a clear contradiction here. We believe that interference of the coalition in the internal civil war, has not been sanctioned by the UN Security Council resolution,” Lavrov said. The statement by Lavrov follows criticism by Russian premier Vladmir Putin, who also condemned the UN resolution. Despite holding veto power as a permanent UN Security Council member, Russia chose not to block resolution 1973, which allowed for military intervention to enforce a no-fly zone over Libya.