United Nations Security Council

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United Nations Security Council

Russia and China on Saturday vetoed a new resolution on Syria, which had been proposed by the Arab League and was endorsed by the European states and the United States. On Sunday, Russian foreign minister Sergei Lavrov said that the veto his country cast on the resolution was to be blamed on the Western partners, which, in his words, refused to accept the amendments proposed by Russia.
Russia had warned it would not vote a resolution which does not take into account its own amendments, which referred to refraining from imposing sanctions on Syria and to making sure that the wording of the resolution text does not open the path for an international intervention.
Russia has expressed its support for Syria, and, while condemning the killings that take place in this country, opposes any international intervention the way the one in Libya was made last Spring.
On Saturday, the Western leaders were confident that Russia would not veto the resolution after the massacre in Homs, a restive city at the border with Lebanon, which the Syrian military is said to have shelled, causing at least 200 to die.
On Monday, China explained its own vote by the timing of the resolution, as the Chinese said the resolution came before the differences were discussed and agreed upon. Beijing said that the resolution puts too much emphasis on pressing the government and creates no conditions for the consultations.
In a press conference, the Chinese foreign minister Liu Weimin rejected criticism that his country was supporting the regime of Bashar al-Assad, which is said to have caused 5,400 to die during 11 months of crackdown.
The foreign minister said that the resolution came before all positions were harmonized, and warned that such rush could undermine the authority of the Security Council in the world.
The Chinese FM did not confirm that China would send an envoy to Damascus, as Russia is about to do. On Saturday, Sergei Lavrov announced hours before the vote that he would go to Damascus on Tuesday along with the Foreign Intelligence Service Director Mikhail Fradkov.
In a statement of the Russian Foreign Minister it says that the mission is an attempt to press Assad to make compromises. The statement specifies that Russia is looking for the “swiftest stabilization” in Syria.
Russia is expected to use its influence in order to implement a “controlled demolition” of Assad’s regime, so that Russia may retain its only platform in the Middle East.
Analysts in Moscow believe that the move Russia made was motivated more by domestic politics rather than concern for the faith of Assad’s regime. Vladimir Putin, who is to be voted in the presidential office within a month, is believed to have wanted to show the people in Russia that he can defy the Western powers, thus asserting Russia as a superpower.
Russia may attempt the demolition of the regime and the rebuilding of a political structure around other members of the Assad dynasty. Russia may however have a problem with the Syrian opposition, after two resolutions vetoed.
It is believed that Assad would be inclined to listen to the Russians, who are taking him seriously, and to step down, than to listen to the Western powers, which have ceaselessly criticizing him.
The European countries, the Arab states and the United States have expressed outrage in the aftermath of the veto at the Security Council. The U.S. State Secretary Hillary Clinton said the veto was a “travesty,” while the American ambassador to the UN, Susan Rice, said she was “disgusted” by the veto.
British foreign minister William Hague said that by the veto Russia and China turn their back on the Arab world, while French foreign minister said that Russia and China took an immense responsibility in the eyes of the world and the Syrian people.
Turkish foreign minister Ahmet Davutoglu said that the veto was a continuation of the Cold War logic, and that the two countries did not vote based on realities but on a reflex to oppose the West.
U.S. State Secretary Hillary Clinton said that a “Friends of Syria” group would be realized, and that it would gather the countries that want to help Syria. The proposition was made by French president Nicolas Sarkozy soon after the veto.
The Arab proposition intended to determine the Assad regime to hand over power to a deputy, to withdraw the army from the streets of major towns and cities and to engage in discussions in order to establish a unity government that would call for snap elections.
The European countries and the United States accepted it, while Syria considered it an attack on its sovereignty. Russia and China have opposed another resolution on Syria last October.

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