Germany Demands 'Serious Negotiations' on Syria Resolution

Germany on Tuesday led European calls for "serious negotiations" on a U.N. Security Council resolution on Syria as a top U.N. official gave a briefing on efforts to end the deadly crackdown on protests.

Germany's U.N. envoy Peter Wittig said Russia's reluctance to discuss a resolution condemning President Bashar al-Assad over the crackdown was "unsatisfactory".

U.N. assistant secretary general B. Lynn Pascoe gave the 15-member council the latest details of the deadly attacks in which the U.N. has said more than 5,000 civilians have been killed.

Russia and China vetoed a European-drafted resolution on Syria in October. Russia has since proposed its own resolution, which condemns the government and opposition violence, but a European diplomat said talks were in "deep freeze" with Moscow even refusing to negotiate proposed changes.

"We want serious negotiations to start on a resolution. We are ready to bridge the gap that exists, but serious negotiations have to start," Wittig told reporters before Tuesday's meeting.

Western envoys have been pressing Russia to speed up talks since December.

"We just had two expert meetings of the 15 before the end of the year, nothing since then, not even a compilation of the amendments we suggested," Wittig said. "That is unsatisfactory."

"We repeat our call for a swift and unified message of the council to the Syrian authorities to lend weight to the decisions and the action plans of the Arab League in its entirety."

Russia blocked the earlier resolution because it said the text was a first move toward "regime change" in Syria.