Russia not to support new UN resolution on Syria

MOSCOW - Russia will not let the UN Security Council pass a West-proposed draft resolution to impose sanctions against Syria, Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Gennady Gatilov said on Thursday.

In response to a question from the Interfax news agency about Russia's stance, Gatilov said such a resolution would be " unacceptable".

"If they decide to do this (to have a vote on the draft resolution) - knowing it would be unacceptable to us - then we will not let it pass," Gatilov said.

The diplomat said the draft resolution is unbalanced, as it only requires the Syrian government to fulfill its obligations.

"It will mean an exacerbation of the political atmosphere around Syria," Gatilov said.

He stressed that the draft resolution is not consistent with the spirit of either the Geneva declaration, which envisages a roadmap to pave the way for a Syrian-led transition, or UN-Arab League joint envoy Kofi Annan's six-point peace plan.

"We will try to move to a constructive text for a possible draft resolution, which can reflect the true situation," Gatilov added.

Russia disseminated a draft resolution on Tuesday, which proposes extending the mandate of the UN Supervision Mission in Syria (UNSMIS) for another three months, reducing the number of military observers, and shifting the focus to a more political mission.

Meanwhile, Britain and France are working on their own version of a draft resolution on Syria, which puts the Annan plan and the transition guidelines from Geneva under Chapter VII of the UN Charter. The Chapter gives the Security Council the right to employ economic and diplomatic sanctions to implement its decisions.