New U.N. Syria Draft Aims to Overcome Russia Concerns

A new draft of a U.N. Security Council resolution to stop the violence in Syria contains concessions to Russia in an effort to overcome Moscow's objections, diplomats said on Thursday.

"They are not made explicit in the latest draft but it is very clear what they are referring to," one Western diplomat said, alluding to the doubts that Russia vowed would lead it to veto any "unacceptable" proposal.

International efforts to stop the bloodshed have so far failed, with Russia, a key all of Syria, firmly opposed to an Arab- and Western-backed U.N. Security Council resolution condemning the violence.

But diplomats hinted in New York on Wednesday that a compromise to overcome Russia's objections was possible.

"We have made some progress today," Britain's U.N. ambassador Mark Lyall Grant told reporters after a three-hour meeting of council members.

Russia's envoy Vitaly Churkin also said there was a much better understanding of what needed to be done to reach a consensus. "I think it was a pretty good session," he said.

French Foreign Minister Alain Juppe said Russia had a "less negative" attitude towards the resolution and a vote could take place "perhaps" next week.

The draft resolution, introduced by Morocco, calls for the formation of a unity government leading to "transparent and free elections," rather than for Assad to step down as proposed in an Arab League plan.

It stresses that there will be no foreign military intervention in Syria as there was in Libya, which toppled Moammar Gadhafi.

A new draft was expected to be prepared following Wednesday's talks and submitted to Council members later Thursday for new discussions, diplomats said.

The diplomatic wrangling is taking place amid warnings that Syria was slowly heading to civil war as the largely peaceful revolt that began in March increasingly takes on a sectarian tone and moves closer to the capital.

In Moscow, a top Defense Ministry official said Russia will not halt its arms exports to Syria despite the violence as there are no sanctions restricting such deliveries.

"As of today there are no restrictions on the delivery of weapons and we must fulfill our obligations" said Deputy Defense Minister Anatoly Antonov, quoted by Russian news agencies. "And this is what we are doing."

As part of efforts to resolve the crisis, Turkish President Abdullah Gul, quoted by daily Radikal, said Ankara could give asylum to Assad's family. "It would of course be considered if such a request were made," he said.