UN Resolution on Syria between Sanctions & Expanding Observers Mission

Talks took place in the UN Security Council in order to issue a resolution over the Syrian crisis.

Talks took place in the UN Security Council in order to issue a resolution over the Syrian crisis. UNSC

As the 90-day mandate of the UN Supervision Mission in Syria (UNSMIS) ends on Friday, if no resolution is passed by then, it would have to shut down this weekend, diplomats said.

The Western powers were intending to threaten sanctions against the regime of President Bashar al-Assad, while Russia said it clear: it would veto any resolution that might include sanctions.

Britain, France, the United States, Germany and Portugal have called for a vote on their resolution -- proposing sanctions under Chapter 7 of the UN Charter -- on Wednesday.
Under the resolution, Syria would face sanctions if it does not stop using heavy weapons and withdraw its troops from towns within 10 days of the resolution.

For its part, Moscow demanded that the mission would be expanded, accusing the West of blackmailing Russia on the Syrian crisis.
"I made it very clear we are going to vote against this resolution," Russia's UN ambassador Vitaly Churkin told reporters after the latest tense talks between council ambassadors.

The envoy said the council should concentrate on extending the UNSMIS mandate, noting: "If people want to attach their individual political agendas, it means they do not want this mission to continue."

"To our great regret, we are witnessing elements of blackmail," Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said earlier on Monday.
"We are being told to either agree to the approval of a resolution that includes Chapter 7 (that provides for possible sanctions), or we refuse to extend the mandate of the observer mission.”

The US envoy Susan Rice told reporters that a Russian resolution proposing to renew the UN mission would fail to get enough votes to pass.
She said it would be "immoral" to leave the nearly 300 unarmed observers in Syria if the council was not going to pressure Assad to carry out the peace plan of UN-Arab League envoy Kofi Annan.

The western resolution would extend the UNSMIS mission for 45 days while Russia's proposal would keep it going for three months.