Russia was Gaddafi's Option B and there was no Option C. Time to move on.
Colonel Gaddafi has been left diplomatically deserted after Russia, his sole international interlocutor joined the rest of the G8 nations in declaring the Libyan leader had lost all legitimacy and had to go.
But continuing differences between Russia and the west prevented agreement on how to pressurise the Syrian regime to end its oppression; a planned reference to take the issue to the UN security council was removed from the G8 communique.
On Libya, David Cameron claimed there would be no attempt to reach a compromise deal, saying the only message to the Libyan leader was that he had to give up power. Cameron, who held a council of war with Barack Obama and Nicolas Sarkozy on Thursday night, claimed the war against Gaddafi was entering a second phase and the pressure on the regime was beginning to tell.
