Russia cast its seventh veto to protect the Syrian government from United Nations Security Council action, blocking a bid by Western powers to impose sanctions on the Assad regime over accusations of chemical weapons attacks during the six-year conflict. Russia, which received veto-backing from China on the matter, said the vote on the resolution, drafted by France, Britain and the United States, would harm the UN-led peace talks in Geneva between the warring parties. Nine council members voted in favor, Bolivia voted against, while Egypt, Ethiopia and Kazakhstan abstained. A resolution needs nine votes in favor and no vetoes by the United States, France, Russia, Britain or China to be adopted. Russian President Vladimir Putin described the draft resolution as “totally inappropriate.”
“As for the sanctions, I think it is now totally inappropriate towards the Syrian leadership because it would not help the negotiating process, but it would obstruct it and would undermine trust in the negotiating process. Russia will not support any new sanctions against Syria,” said Putin.
In response to the labelling of the resolution against the Assad regime as inappropriate, and the veto by Russia and China that blocked the Western bid, US Ambassador to the United Nations Nikki Haley accused Moscow and Beijing of making excuse for its allies’ killing of its own people. “For my friends in Russia, this resolution is very appropriate. It is a sad day on the Security Council when members start making excuses for other member states killing their own people. The world is definitely a more dangerous place. Today the international community can look no further than the Security Council for contributing to that,” said Haley
The vote was one of the first confrontations at the United Nations between Russia and the United States since US President Donald Trump took office in January. Washington, together with its Western partners put forward the resolution in response to results of an investigation by the UN and the Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons, which found Syrian government forces were responsible for three chlorine gas attacks and that Islamic State militants had used mustard gas. Nevertheless, Russia said the results were inconclusive.