Russia blames West for no consensus on Syria resolution

Russia laid the blame for the failed UN Security Council resolution on Syria on its Western backers Sunday, saying they didn't try hard enough to compromise. "Regrettably, the authors of the Syrian draft resolution did not want to make additional efforts to reach a consensus. And the result is known," Deputy Foreign Minister Gennady Gatilov wrote on his Twitter account Sunday. In a separate statement Sunday, the Russian foreign ministry also expressed regrets over the outcome of the work on Syria at the UN Security Council. It said an agreement could have been reached if the political will had existed to gain a consolidated position among the international community. "Russia and China were forced to vote against the unbalanced draft resolution," the statement said. "Russia, together with other countries, is determined to seek the soonest possible stabilization of the situation in Syria along the path toward pressing democratic transformations," it said. Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov will visit Damascus on Feb. 7 on President Dmitry Medvedev's orders to hold talks with Syrian President Bashar al-Assad and urge him to launch democratic reforms. The ministry said Moscow still advocated continuation of the Arab League mission in Syria and broader intra-Syrian dialogue. The draft resolution, which was brokered by Morocco and backed by the United States and other major Western nations, included a call for al-Assad to step down.