MOSCOW – By refusing to veto the UN resolution allowing military action against Libya and siding with the West, Russia has betrayed its interests and lost tens of billions of euros, Russia’s ex-envoy in Tripoli said on Thursday. Vladimir Chamov was dramatically fired from the post of Russia’s ambassador to Libya before the UN Security Council last week gave the green light to a military operation against Libya. His comments in an interview with the Moskovsky Komsomolets newspaper appear to reveal a split in the Russian elite between those who believe Russia should cooperate with the West and those who want it to follow traditional interests.
Chamov revealed his dismissal came after he sent a telegram to President Dmitry Medvedev saying that siding with the West against Libya would essentially amount to betrayal of Moscow’s interests in the country. “I wrote a telegram in which I stressed that I represent Russia’s interests in Libya,” Chamov said. “Our countries had in recent times sought closer cooperation and it was not in Russia’s interests to lose such a partner. “Russian companies had agreed very lucrative long-term contracts worth tens of billions of euros which they could lose and have already lost. Which in a sense can be considered the betrayal of Russia’s interests.”
