Communist leader slams Moscow’s passive stance on Libya

Head of Russia’s Communist party, Gennady Zyuganov, says Russia should have vetoed the resolution on Libya adopted by the UN Security Council.

By refraining from voting on the document, the Russian administration “in fact backed NATO's aggressive ambitions to impose their will everywhere on the globe, which now include Libya,” he believes.He accused the Russian leadership of “serving foreign interests” and contributing to the attempts to create “greater Middle East” subjected to the United States. Zyuganov believes that the Security Council resolution allows NATO to start a new punitive operation in Libya, which is, in his opinion, “poses a grave threat to Russia’s strategic interests in the region.” The politician also pointed out “unprecedented violations of the voting process”. “Changes have been made to the document just ahead of the vote, although it had been agreed upon by the sides. These changes are in fact loopholes for launching a large-scale ground intervention,” Zyuganov asserted. Referring to media reports that France and the UK “are ready to bomb Libya”, he concluded that this is “the beginning of a new NATO war against another sovereign country.” As Libya says it is ready to take possible counter attacks, Gennady Zyuganov warned that the war can engulf the entire Mediterranean. Apart from slamming Moscow’s stance on Libya, he expressed doubts about the legitimacy of the resolution. He said that five of 15 member states that abstained from voting – Russia, China, India, Brasil and Germany – represent “a huge part of the planet’s population. “This deprives the authors of the resolution the right to speak on behalf of the whole international community,” Gennady Zyuganov concluded.