Russia abstains on Libya vote

Russia abstained from the UN vote late Thursday authorizing a no-fly zone over Libya. The move was expected, and Russia was joined by fellow BRICers Brazil, India and China, as well as Germany. It didn’t use its veto, which just means the country was hedging its bets (watch this interview with Russia Today, where Gaddafi invites Russia to invest further in Libya’s oil sector). Russia is also, as a rule, against any sort of foreign intervention (we’ll forget that pesky war in South Ossetia).