Russia Blames West over Syria Resolution Veto

Russia on Sunday blamed Western powers for the U.N. Security Council's failure to pass a resolution condemning the violence in Syria, saying they had failed to make an additional effort for a consensus.

"The authors of the draft Syria resolution, unfortunately, did not want to undertake an extra effort and come to a consensus," Deputy Foreign Minister Gennady Gatilov wrote on Twitter after Russia and China's use of their veto sparked outrage. "The result is known," he added.

Russia and China on Saturday blocked a U.N. Security Council resolution condemning Syria's crackdown on protests, the second time they have used their veto to block a text on Syria after a similar double action in October.

Russia's U.N. ambassador Vitaly Churkin said the proposed resolution was "unbalanced" and accused the West of seeking to oust Syrian President Bashar al-Assad in a regime change.

Western governments reacted with fury to the veto, with U.S. ambassador Susan Rice saying Russia and China "remain steadfast in their willingness to sell out the Syrian people and shield a craven tyrant."

The controversy comes ahead of a visit to Damascus on Tuesday by Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov along with Russia's Foreign Intelligence Service (SVR) chief Mikhail Fradkov for talks with Assad.

Gatilov said Saturday that the visit was aimed at finding a political solution to the crisis in Syria but no further details over the nature of the trip have yet been released.