Any Syria measure outside UNSC inefficient: Russia

Russia has strongly warned against any unilateral action on Syria that fails to get the authorization of the UN Security Council. “In the Russian president’s opinion, any attempt to act without the [UN] Security Council’s approval will be inefficient and will undermine the authority of this international organization,” President Vladimir Putin’s spokesman Dmitry Peskov said on Friday. Russia and China on Thursday vetoed a Western-backed UN Security Council draft resolution against Syria, which called for new sanctions against the government of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad under Chapter VII of the UN Charter. It is the third time that the two world powers block an anti-Damascus resolution since the beginning of unrest in Syria last year. Following the veto, US Ambassador to the UN Susan Rice threatened that Washington and its partners would look to partnerships and actions outside the auspices of the UN council. Syria has been the scene of deadly unrest since mid-March, 2011 and many people, including large numbers of army and security personnel, have been killed in the violence. Four Syrian military and security officials were killed in a terrorist bombing at the headquarters of the Syrian National Security in the capital on Wednesday. The West and the Syrian opposition accuse the government of killing protesters. But Damascus blames ''outlaws, saboteurs and armed terrorist groups'' for the unrest, insisting that it is being orchestrated from abroad.