Ban Meets Chinese Officials, Urges Security Council to Act on Syria
U.N. chief Ban Ki-moon on Wednesday urged the Security Council to act to stop the bloodshed in Syria, after holding talks with Chinese leaders in Beijing hours ahead of a vote on fresh sanctions.
The Security Council will on Wednesday vote on a Western resolution renewing the U.N. mission in the country that calls for sanctions if the regime does not pull back heavy weapons.
China, one of five veto-wielding members of the U.N. Security Council, has twice joined with Syrian President Bashar Assad's main ally Russia over the course of the 16-month conflict in blocking resolutions critical of Damascus.
Diplomats say Russian President Vladimir Putin spoke with his Chinese counterpart Hu Jintao over the weekend and the two sides agreed to oppose a new Western-backed proposal calling for fresh sanctions on Wednesday.
"We cannot go on this way," Ban told reporters. "So many people have lost their lives during such a long time.
"I have explained how serious the situation is now and all the leaders in China have also shared my view that this situation is very serious," Ban Ki-moon told reporters after meeting Hu and Foreign Minister Yang Jiechi.
"I sincerely hope that the members of the Security Council will be able to discuss with a sense of urgency and take collective action with a sense of unity."
Ban expressed hope during his meetings in China that the Council would agree on a path forward that ended the bloodshed and allowed Syrians to begin a political dialogue leading to a Syrian-led transition, a U.N. spokesperson said.
Russia has branded as "blackmail" the bid to link renewal of the U.N. mission to the threat of sanctions, and has pledged to veto the resolution calling for sanctions.
It proposed a new draft on Tuesday which was rejected by Britain, France, the United States, Germany and Portugal, diplomats said. The Russian draft would renew the mission for three months, but would not back it up with international action.
"Barring a last minute surprise, we should now go for a vote on Wednesday and we expect a veto by Russia and China," said the U.N. envoy of a Western nation.
The current 90-day U.N. mission in Syria ends on Friday and if no resolution is passed by then, it would have to shut down this weekend, according to diplomats.
Source: Agence France Presse
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