Putin says draft U.N. resolution to sanction Syria 'inappropriate'

Reuters
Russian President Vladimir Putin (R) shakes hands with Syrian President Bashar al-Assad during a meeting at the Kremlin in Moscow, Russia, in this October 20, 2015 file photo. REUTERS/Alexei Druzhinin/RIA Novosti/Kremlin/ Files

MOSCOW (Reuters) - Russian President Vladimir Putin said on Tuesday a draft U.N. Security Council resolution put forward by Western powers to sanction Syria's government over the alleged use of chemical weapons was inappropriate. The Security Council will vote later on Tuesday on a resolution drafted by France, Britain and the United States to ban the supply of helicopters to the Syrian government and to blacklist Syrian military commanders. "I think it is totally inappropriate," Putin told a news conference in Bishkek, the capital of Kyrgyzstan, after meeting his Kyrgyz counterpart Almazbek Atambayev. "It would undermine trust in the negotiating process. Russia will not support any new sanctions against the Syrian leadership." Russia's Deputy U.N. Ambassador, Vladimir Safronkov, told reporters on Friday that Moscow would veto the draft resolution. (Reporting by Denis Pinchuk; Writing by Andrew Osborn; Editing by Aleksandar Vasovic)