Published: 10 March, 2011, 08:35 Edited: 10 March, 2011, 10:12 Russia Today
US Vice President Joe Biden will continue his two-day visit to Moscow with a meeting with Prime Minister Vladimir Putin. Turmoil in Libya is again likely to dominate talks, overshadowing the issue of missile defense and Russia’s bid for the WTO.
As a veto-holding member of the UN Security Council, Russia is strongly against imposing a no-fly zone over Libya, which would entail a ban on its national air force and civil aviation and the disabling of its anti-aircraft systems. The Kremlin has insisted that the international community not become involved in Libya’s domestic affairs.
“I don’t think [Biden] has a mandate to ask for Russia’s support for any sort of intervention into Libya, because there is no agreement within the US and of course within NATO whether it should intervene,” says political analyst Mikhail Troitsky.
But the US has been considering the option of imposing the no-fly zone, given the continued escalation of bloodshed in the region and pressure from the UK and France.
Talks with Putin will precede further meetings with Russian opposition parties and civil society activists, whose names have not yet been disclosed, raising some speculation about the US involvement in Russian domestic politics ahead of the 2012 presidential elections.
On Wednesday, Biden met with Russia’s President Dmitry Medvedev and held a business roundtable to address US-Russia trade and economic ties.
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