NATO, western countries’ mean approach to Libya led to its current dilemma, Lavrov says
Western countries behaved meanly towards Libya by violating the UN Security Council resolution on introduction of a no-fly zone over the country’s territory, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said at the first Global Young Diplomats Forum held as part of the World Forum of Youth and Students, when asked by the audience, TASS reported Monday.
“The UN Security Council resolution was most seriously violated and crushed,” he noted. “This is about dealmaking skills of our partners, who just behaved meanly and dishonestly.” According to TASS.
“Aviation of Libyan Arab Jamahiriya’s Air Forces did not have to get off the ground, and it did not,” Lavrov said. “The Security Council ordered that all necessary measures could be taken to provide a no-fly zone regime.” This meant that “force could be used only in case a plane violated the no-fly zone regime.” TASS explained.
“Instead of this, our counterparts from the North Atlantic Alliance deployed their air forces and bombed Gaddafi’s army, helped rebels, among whom there were a lot of terrorists, and liquidated the Libyan revolution’s leader,” the minister concluded, TASS indicated.
Libya’s state collapse started in 2011, when NATO countries backed rebels from the city of Benghazi who raised a revolt against Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi. With massive air support from the North Atlantic Alliance, the rebels managed to take the country’s capital after half a year of military action and then found and killed Gaddafi himself. NATO stopped its air campaign following his death, TASS wrote.
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