Downing Street warned Russia on Monday not to block efforts at the United Nations to bring a peaceful resolution to unrest in Syria.
Britain’s Foreign Secretary William Hague was on Monday flying to New York to lend Britain’s support to an Arab-backed draft resolution calling on the country’s authoritarian leader Bashar al-Assad to step down and pave the way for a transfer of power.
The Arab League’s secretary general Nabil Elaraby will on Tuesday brief Security Council members, including Mr Hague, on the findings of its recent mission to monitor the Assad regime’s response to widespread protests against his rule.
The suspension of the mission at the weekend was followed by an upsurge in violence, with reports of at least 62 deaths as regime forces stormed rebel strongholds in the capital Damascus and around the country.
Western powers including Britain and France are pushing for the adoption this week of the resolution tabled by current Security Council member Morocco, which would give international backing to an Arab League timetable for the transition of power in Syria to a unity government, followed by free elections.