Russia criticises US for recognising Libyan rebel government

Source: Reuters

Russia has criticised the US and other countries for recognising the Libyan rebels' national transitional council as a legitimate government, saying they are taking sides in the civil war.

"Those who declare recognition stand fully on the side of one political force in a civil war," the Russian foreign minister, Sergei Lavrov, told reporters.

The US secretary of state, Hillary Clinton, announced the recognition of the rebels on Friday when she was in Turkey for a meeting of an international contact group on Libya.

The major diplomatic step could unblock billions of dollars in frozen Libyan funds for the campaign to end the 41-year rule of Muammar Gaddafi, who has resisted Nato bombing for nearly four months.

Read more: http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2011/jul/18/libya-rebels-government-recognition-russia

n/t

Are you saying that they are not actually leaders of Russia? If they are not, who is?

If Russia cared about being relevant, it would have vetoed the resolution used as a fig leaf for an immoral war of aggression.

To big business, yes, but just how relevant have recent US "leaders" been to your life?

You should Google the term BRIC. Western economies are declining, the BRIC economies aren't. Russia is keenly aware of the fact that they're rising to become one of the planets new power centers, and that the BRIC economies (and their satellite nations in Asia) will eclipse the western nations in just a few decades. They don't need to be "relevant" to us, because they know they'll be commanding the global economy in the very near future.

They're starting to assert themselves. These are the opening salvos of a global ideological fight that will probably dominate global geopolitics for the next century.

and implicates the UN and the ICC.

Georgian war. There are now 5 countries that recognize the independence of Abkhazia and South Ossetia - Russia, Venezuela, Nicaragua, Nauru and Vanuatu. The rest of the world does not.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/International_recognition_of_Abkhazia_and_South_Ossetia

The independence of Kosovo from Serbia in 2008 is recognized by 77 countries, not including Russia or Serbia.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/International_recognition_of_Kosovo

Heck the US didn't recognize the "rebel government" in China until 1979, 30 years after it took power.

It is common for countries to rush to recognize some "rebel groups" with whom they feel some common cause, while taking forever to recognize those who are "rebelling" against friends. The specifics of each "rebellion" are different but it seems to be rare for any government to rush to recognize a "rebel group" based on any objective standard. While they will justify their recognition of one side or another with references to justice, fairness, human rights, etc., it seems to really come down to "which side do we like/dislike more".

There may be some who think that Russia is always right, the US is always right, China is always right or some other country is always right, but they all seem to use subjective standards when deciding which "rebel groups" to recognize.

Which is actually the self-interest of the ruling class of each country, as best they understand it. Usually money is involved, or the hope of money. Morality or democracy is a secondary consideration at best.

BEIJING (Reuters) - China said last Thursday it would skip last week's meeting in Turkey between Western powers, Arab governments and leaders of Libya's opposition National Transitional Council, saying that the way the group worked needed "further study".

"South Africa and the African Union have played an important role in pushing a political solution for the Libyan issue, which shows the resolve of African countries to 'use an African method to solve an African issue,'" Hu told Zuma.

"China greatly appreciates this, and is willing to continue remaining in close touch and coordinate closely with South Africa and the African Union on the Libya issue."

http://af.reuters.com/article/topNews/idAFJOE76K0F920110721