"It will be desirable that the countries which collected substantial amount of weapons use force as an element of containment but not use it on whim. Use of force will not lead to a final settlement, only the political processes are needed," Putin told a gathering of his young supporters in Tver region.
The prime minister also admitted he did not completely understand how to interpret the NATO`s claims, which says the block was ready to go till the end in the Libyan conflict.
"UN mandate does not give (NATO) the right to fight against one of the sides and reach victory over somebody. The UN mandate gives the right to protect civilians from the air strikes of one of the sides," Putin stressed.
Moscow has long accused NATO of going beyond UN Security Council resolutions which mandated a no-fly zone over the North African country. (C003)
Editor: Ella Syafputri
Copyright © ANTARA 2011
