Russia, China veto U.N. threat to Syria

UNITED NATIONS – Russia and China vetoed a European-backed U.N. Security Council resolution Tuesday that threatened sanctions against Syria if it didn’t immediately halt its military crackdown against civilians.

It would have been the first legally binding resolution adopted by the Security Council since President Bashar Assad’s military began using tanks and soldiers against protesters in mid-March. Its defeat reflects the deep divisions in the U.N.’s most powerful body over how to address the ongoing violence in Syria, which the U.N. estimates has led to more than 2,700 deaths.

The European sponsors of the resolution tried to avoid a veto by watering down the language on sanctions three times, to the point where the word “sanctions” was taken out, but they failed.

The vote was 9-2 with four abstentions – India, South Africa, Brazil and Lebanon.

Russia’s U.N. Ambassador Vitaly Churkin told the council after the vote that his country did not support the Assad regime or the violence but opposed the resolution because it was “based on a philosophy of confrontation,” contained “an ultimatum of sanctions” and was against a peaceful settlement of a crisis.

China’s Ambassador Li Bandong said his country is concerned about the ongoing violence and wants to see speedy reforms but opposed the resolution because “sanctions, or threat of sanctions, do not help the situation in Syria but rather complicates the situation.”

Supporters of the resolution expressed disappointment and outrage.

France’s U.N. Ambassador Gerard Araud said the veto “goes against the sense of history that is under way in the region” and commended “all of those who fight against the bloodthirsty crackdown in Syria.”

Britain’s U.N. Ambassador Mark Lyall Grant said the veto “will be a great disappointment to the people of Syria and the wider region that some members of this council could not show their support for their struggle for basic human rights.”

“By blocking this resolution, the onus is now on those countries to step up their efforts and persuade the Syrian government to end the violence and pursue genuine reform,” he said.

From the outset of the Syrian uprising, the council has been split.

Western members, backed by some African and Latin American nations, demanded an end to violence, and when it was not heeded they pushed for Security Council action, including the threat of sanctions. On the other side, Russia, China and the newly emerging global powers – Brazil, India and South Africa – pressed for more time for the Assad government to implement reforms and for political dialogue with the opposition and strongly opposed even mentioning sanctions.

It took four months of arguments between supporters and opponents of Assad’s regime for the Security Council to issue a presidential statement in August condemning the escalating violence.