By Canberk Yuksel
NEW YORK (AA) - Russia and China on Tuesday blocked a UN Security Council draft resolution to impose sanctions on the Syrian regime over chemical weapon attacks.
Russia branded the proposal a “provocation to discredit the government of Syria and its armed forces”. Vladimir Safronkov, Russia’s deputy permanent representative, said the draft aimed to “create additional grounds to change the regime in Damascus”.
The two permanent members have shielded Bashar al-Assad’s regime from international sanctions over the course of the six-year war.
Proposed by France, the U.K., and the U.S., the draft would have imposed sanctions on 21 Syrian individuals and organizations alleged to have been involved in chemical weapon attacks.
It would also have banned the supply of helicopters, which are said to be used by government forces to drop chemical weapons, to the Syrian government.
The motion received nine votes from the 15-member council. Bolivia also voted against the motion while Egypt, Ethiopia and Kazakhstan abstained.
A joint investigation by the UN and the international chemical weapons watchdog has found the Syrian government was behind at least three attacks involving chlorine gas.