The UN Security Council has reached an agreement on the text of the resolution to stop bloodshed in Syria. It will first be sent to capitals of the Council’s members for approval before being voted for, Russian representative to the UN Vitaly Churkin said after four hours of talks in a closed-door meeting.
US representative Susan Rice said that the document still needs to be worked on and will be published this evening or next morning. She said that its fate will be determined by votes of 15 capitals of member states of the UN Security Council.
The text has not been published yet. It is most likely the text proposed by Morocco with major adjustments. The updated document lacks the urge for Syrian President Bashar Assad to hand power, which was the key point for resolving the crisis, as proposed by the Arab league. The ban on weapon shipments to Syria was also dropped out.
Thus, the resolution resembles the version proposed by Russia. The document offered by Moscow was disapproved by most members of the UN Security Council, who called it too “soft”.
Western members of the UN Security Council initiated votes for a resolution containing sanctions against Syria. Russia and China blocked the resolution using their veto right.
