Putin Voiced His Personal Viewpoint While Assessing Libya Situation - Press Secretary
LJUBLJANA. March 22 (Interfax) - Prime Minister Vladimir Putin's assessment of the situation surrounding Libya is his personal point of view, while the statement made by President Dmitry Medvedev is the sole official position of the Russian Federation, said Putin's Press Secretary Dmitry Peskov.
"We are talking about different levels of assessment," Peskov told the press on Tuesday.
"The judgment voiced by the prime minister is nothing but his personal point of view, while the assessment stated by the head of state is the sole official position of the Russian Federation, with which all comply," Peskov said.
President Dmitry Medvedev said on Monday that one should be very accurate in one's statements about the situation in Libya.
"The use of expressions like 'crusades' and so on, which may actually lead to a clash of civilizations, is unacceptable. Otherwise, the end might be far worse than what is happening now," Medvedev told reporters in Gorki.
He said he did not consider UN Security Council resolution 1973 to be a wrong one.
"I think that this resolution on the whole reflects our understanding of the situation in Libya, but not to the full extent, which is why we did not use our right of veto, but as you understand, this was a qualified refusal, proceeding from the consequences that were quite clear. It would be wrong to say that we 'had no idea what to do'", the president said.
Those were his instructions to the Foreign Ministry, Medvedev said.
Earlier Prime Minister Vladimir Putin has called the UN Security Council resolution on Libya incomplete.
"This resolution of the Security Council is obviously incomplete and flawed," he told workers of the Votkinsk plant.
"The resolution allows anyone taking any actions against the sovereign state," he said.
"It resembles a medieval appeal for a crusade, in which someone called for going to some places and freeing something," Putin said.
Keyword Tags:
