You're reading: Wall Street Journal: After military push in Syria, Russia plays both sides in Libya

Wall Street Journal: After military push in Syria, Russia plays both sides in Libya

Published June 7, 2018. Updated June 7 at 9:42 pm

Syrian and Russian soldiers wait at the entrance of the Wafideen Camp for the arrival of buses carrying Jaish al-Islam fighters and their family members evacuated from the Eastern Ghouta town of Douma, on April 12, 2018. Rebels in Syria's Eastern Ghouta surrendered their heavy weapons and their leader left the enclave, a monitor said, signalling the end of one of the bloodiest assaults of Syria's seven-year war. / AFP PHOTO / Youssef KARWASHAN

Photo by AFP

When Russia welcomed a Libyan warlord aboard its aircraft carrier last year, it looked like the Kremlin was throwing its weight behind a rival to the United Nations-backed government in the North African country.

But by that time a Russian businessman was already one year along on a quieter Kremlin-backed mission to court the official administration in Tripoli.