Russia, China defend veto on UN proposal

Russia and China on Saturday defended their decision to veto proposed UN sanctions against Zimbabwe.

The Russian Foreign Ministry in a statement said it was "impermissible" that the US and UK's criticism called into doubt Russia's worthiness as a Group of Eight (G8) partner, because the G8 powers agreed not to mention UN sanctions in the joint statement on Zimbabwe, albeit at Russia's behest.

"The American and British UN representatives in the best-case scenario are totally uninformed about the discussion of the G8 leaders in Tokyo, and in the worst case they are deliberately distorting the facts," the statement said.

US Ambassador Zalmay Khalilzad said Russia had initially indicated it would abstain rather than veto.

"The Russian performance here today raises questions about its reliability as a G-8 partner," he said.

British Foreign Secretary David Miliband added that the vetoes "will appear incomprehensible to the people of Zimbabwe".

Russia says it believes the sanctions would set a dangerous precedent for UN Security Council meddling in internal affairs.

Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Liu Jianchao defended the veto as right for Zimbabwe.

"Under present conditions, passing a sanctions resolution against Zimbabwe would not help to encourage the various factions there to engage in political dialogue and negotiations and achieve results," Liu said in a statement.

"On the contrary, it would further complicate conditions in Zimbabwe," Liu said, adding that China's call that the African Union be given more time for mediation was ignored.
 

Questions:

1. Which African country is at the center of controversy regarding proposed sanctions from some members of the UN Security Council?

2. What reason did the Russian spokesperson offer for vetoing the UN Security Council vote?

Answers:

1. Zimbabwe.

2. The belief that sanctions would set a dangerous precedent for UN Security Council meddling in internal affairs.