Russia vetoes anti-Syria UN statement

Russia has blocked a UK-proposed UN Security Council statement aimed at denouncing the Syrian government for alleged aerial assaults on Aleppo, diplomatic sources say.

According to the UN diplomats speaking on condition of anonymity, Russia on Wednesday objected to a press statement drafted by Britain to express “outrage” at alleged attacks by the Syrian army on the country’s northern province of Aleppo, Reuters reported.

One of the diplomats said the Council could not reach an agreement on the statement because amendments proposed by Moscow were “clearly designed to rob the statement of any reference to what has happened in Aleppo.”

Russia also vetoed a similar statement proposed by the United States at the Council in December 2013. Moscow’s blocking of the anti-Syria statement drew angry reactions from Washington.

Damascus says the Syrian army is fighting the Takfiri militants controlling some parts of Aleppo. The province has also been the scene of heavy infighting among the extremist groups over the past months.

On December 24, 2013, Syria censured the US government as a “one-eyed pirate” after Washington slammed Damascus for the airstrikes on Aleppo.

The US “condemns what it describes as incessant aerial attacks by Syrian government forces in Aleppo,” said Syria’s official news agency SANA, adding, “Washington is a pirate that only looks with one eye. In the areas named by the White House… all you have is groups of Saudis, Qataris and Chechens.”

Russia and China have vetoed three Security Council resolutions proposed by the West against Syria, which has been grappling with nearly three years of foreign-backed turmoil.