By John Lee.
A new article published by the London-based policy institute Chatham House (the Royal Institute of International Affairs) suggests that the real driving forces behind Russian involvement in Libya are a mixture of ambition, opportunism and anti-Western sentiment.
Commercially, while the overall scale of Russia's losses in Libya is unknown, author Nikolay Kozhanov describes them as "manageable", and cites Russian arms exporter Rosoboronexport estimates of its financial losses in Libya as up to $6.5 billion; Russian energy companies such as Gazprom, Lukoil and Tatneft were also either involved in or planning to invest in the country.
(Source: Chatham House)
