Russia and China Veto Resolution on Syria - New York Times

Russia and China vetoed a Security Council resolution on Thursday that would have imposed United Nations sanctions on the Syrian government for the first time, intended to press it into implementing a languishing peace plan to halt the 17-month-old conflict in Syria.

In a Security Council session broadcast live on the United Nations Web site, the Russian and Chinese delegates exercised their veto power as permanent members of the council to derail the resolution, which was offered by Britain and was backed by 10 other council members, including the United States and France.

“The United Kingdom is appalled by the decision of Russia and China to veto this draft resolution aimed at ending the bloodshed in Syria,” the British ambassador, Sir Mark Lyall Grant, told the council after the vote.

Susan E. Rice, the American ambassador, also angrily denounced the double veto. “We have missed yet another critical opportunity to work together,” she told the council.

The vote leaves in doubt the future of a 300-member United Nations mission in Syria that was sent there to observe the implementation of the peace plan, which called for a cease-fire, the Syrian military’s halt to the use of heavy weapons against the political opposition, and other measures aimed at creating the basis for a political dialogue to resolve the crisis.

The Security Council’s authorization of that mission expires on Friday.

It was the third time that Russia and China have vetoed resolutions on Syria since the uprising against President Bashar al-Assad first erupted in March 2011. The two countries have objected to any measure that could, in their view, lead to outside military intervention in Syria, as happened in Libya last year.

Still, the pressure on the Security Council to take action has been mounting steadily, and several members have said that the credibility of the United Nations is at risk if the council fails to take a decisive step. More than 17,000 Syrians have been killed since the uprising began, and thousands of Syrians have fled to neighboring Turkey, Lebanon and Jordan.

A lethal bomb attack in Damascus on Wednesday that killed at least three of Mr. Assad’s top aides, including his powerful brother-in-law and defense minister, “underscores the urgency of decisive council action,” said Ahmad Fawzi, a spokesman for Kofi Annan, the United Nations and the Arab League’s special envoy for Syria, speaking on United Nations television.

The resolution vetoed by Russia and China on Thursday would have given Mr. Assad 10 days to implement the peace plan, which was devised by Mr. Annan and which Mr. Assad accepted three months ago but has basically ignored since then. The resolution carried coercive pressure because it would have imposed economic sanctions on the Syrian government under Article 7 of the United Nations Charter.

Russia has offered its own resolution to press Mr. Assad to implement the peace plan, but with no coercive threats. Critics said that the omission made the resolution meaningless.

It was unclear whether Russia would bring its resolution to a vote, since it lacked the nine “yes” votes on the council to win approval.