Russia's UN Ambassador Vitaly Churkin, raise his hand against a UN Security Council vote on referring the Syrian crisis to the International Criminal Court for investigation of possible war crimes.
Russia's United Nations ambassador insists that Syria's presidential election on Tuesday is not an obstacle to a political settlement of the devastating war and is urging the U.N. chief to quickly appoint a new envoy to revive stalled peace talks.
Vitaly Churkin criticized Western countries that believe the election - which Bashar Assad is certain to win - has ruled out any progress on the political front saying a replacement for Lakhdar Brahimi is needed "to create conditions to move the talks between the government and opposition forward."
In a wide-ranging news conference Tuesday, Churkin expressed hope that the Security Council would adopt a resolution to speed up humanitarian aid in Syria, and a resolution demanding an immediate halt to deadly clashes in eastern Ukraine and the establishment of "humanitarian corridors."