In Moscow earlier this month, Putin, now prime minister, not only attended Medvedev's talks with Gadhafi but also accompanied him to the concert of Mireille Mathieu in the Kremlin Palace where he introduced the Libyan VIP to the famous French singer in a surprise move.

Gadhafi was received in the Ukrainian capital, Kiev, without much pomp, which was logical given the political situation in Ukraine. But Ukrainian President Viktor Yushchenko said at a news conference after their meeting that current bilateral military technical cooperation was not up to its potential.

Analysts are worried that no official statements on the signing of Russian-Libyan documents were made in Moscow, while Belarus has signed agreements. However, this does not mean that Medvedev, Putin, Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko and Yushchenko have not agreed with Gadhafi on military matters. I rather think they have but decided not to comment on their achievements, for understandable reasons.

It is still not clear if Russia will have a naval base in Benghazi, Libya. According to the Moscow business daily newspaper Kommersant, Gadhafi discussed the issue with Medvedev.

A group of warships from Russia's Northern Fleet led by the Pyotr Veliky missile cruiser recently called at Tripoli, and the Neustrashimy destroyer stopped at the port on its way to Somalia.

The newspaper writes that Gadhafi thinks Russia's military presence would protect Libya from possible attacks by the United States, which is not willing to embrace the colonel despite numerous conciliatory gestures.

Russia apparently has at least three advantages over Belarus and Ukraine.

First, it offers brand-new high-tech arms that are better than many foreign analogues.

Second, the three Slavic countries may agree what to sell to Gadhafi and at what price, despite the numerous political differences between them, especially between Russia and Ukraine over Ukrainian arms deliveries to Georgia.

And third, Russia may still decide to establish a naval base at Benghazi, because it will cost a lot and Libya needs the money. But can Russia do it in conditions of the global financial crisis, when its international reserves are decreasing by the day and the once full flow of petrodollars is dwindling to a small creek?

Which of the three Slavic brother nations will the Libyan leader choose? From whom will he buy more arms? We will know the answer only when more warships, aircraft and tanks marked "Made in the Soviet Union" are sent to Tripoli under the watchful eye of space-based monitoring systems.

(Andrei Murtazin is a commentator for RIA Novosti. This article is reprinted by permission of RIA Novosti. The opinions expressed in this article are the author's and do not necessarily represent those of RIA Novosti.)

(United Press International's "Outside View" commentaries are written by outside contributors who specialize in a variety of important issues. The views expressed do not necessarily reflect those of United Press International. In the interests of creating an open forum, original submissions are invited.)

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