MOSCOW. May 20 (Interfax) - The UN Security Council's mandate on Libya should not be substituted by actions of other organizations, including NATO, Russian Foreign Ministry spokesman Alexander Lukashevich said.
"We think that it is unacceptable to substitute the [UN Security] Council's mandate in this sphere by actions of any other associations - whether it be NATO, the Contact Group on Libya or other organizations," Lukashevich said in a commentary posted on the ministry's website on Friday.
"NATO's arguments about the legitimacy of the rules for the use of force referring to their confirmation by all of the alliance's 28 countries do not look convincing, either," he said.
"Decisions helping sort out the situation in Libya were adopted by the UN Security Council, which holds a function to control their implementation," the Russian diplomat said.
During the drafting of the UN Security Council's Resolution 1973, the Russian delegation to New York proposed thoroughly formulating "rules of conduct" for joint efforts to restore order to Libya, he said.
"However, Western countries chose to ignore our suggestions, intentionally leaving vague phrases in the resolution. They are hiding behind them today as they launch strikes against civilian infrastructure, which leads to new casualties among the civilian population, further deteriorates the humanitarian situation in the country and provokes a rise in the number of refugees and internally displaced persons that is already unprecedentedly high for this region, interfering in a domestic conflict on the territory of an independent state and openly supporting one of the sides," Lukashevich said.