Russia vetoed Arab League call for sanctions on Syria ; China went along . George Lopez : The veto is effort to keep U.N. from imposing sanctions , period . Russia believes the U.N. must be limited in its response to crises , he writes . Lopez : But this assessment is overly simplified . Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said that if a resolution was adopted by the Security Council and then vetoed, it would have no effect because of Russia's veto.
Russia vetoed Arab League call for sanctions on Syria ; China went along . George Lopez : The veto is effort to keep U.N. from imposing sanctions , period . Russia believes the U.N. must be limited in its response to crises , he writes . Lopez : Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said that if a resolution was adopted by the Security Council and then vetoed, it would have no effect because of Russia's veto.