UN peacekeeping mission in Syria draws different reactions from Russia, China and Britain

China's Foreign Ministry on Monday backed Arab League mediation in Syria but offered no clear sign of support for its call to send in peacekeepers to halt the Syrian government's violent crackdown on opposition groups.
   
Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Liu Weimin would not be drawn on whether Beijing supports sending in peacekeepers.

"China calls for and supports the Arab League's continued efforts at political mediation, which plays a proactive and constructive role with regard to peaceful settlement of the Syrian issue," Liu said, when asked about the Arab League resolution.
   
"We believe the United Nations should offer constructive assistance on the basis of the U.N. charter and the norms of international relations," he told a daily news briefing.

As for Russia, Russia's foreign minister said on Monday that his country will study an Arab League proposal for a joint peacekeeping mission in Syria with the United Nations.
 
However, Sergey Lavrov said  that a cease-fire would have to be declared before any such mission could be deployed.
 
"We should first have peace, which would be supported," Lavrov said at a news conference in Moscow with United Arab Emirates Foreign Minister Sheik Abdullah bin Zayed Al Nahyan.

In turn, British Foreign Secretary William Hague said that any peacekeeping troops in Syria should come from non-Western countries.

"I don't see the way forward in Syria as being Western boots on the ground in any form, including in any peacekeeping form. I think they would need to come from other countries, rather than Western nations," he told reporters during a visit to Cape Town.

"Of course, if such a concept can be made viable, we will be supporting it in all the usual ways," he said.   

The Arab League on Sunday passed a resolution asking the U.N. Security Council to authorize a joint U.N.-Arab peacekeeping mission to Syria.

The call adds to diplomatic pressure on Russia and China, both heavily criticized by the West for blocking a draft U.N.  resolution calling for Syrian President Bashar al-Assad Assad to give up his powers.
 
The Arab League made the proposal for the joint peacekeeping mission Sunday. The Syrian government quickly rejected the idea.

Any U.N. peacekeeping mission needs consensus from foreign powers which have been divided on how to resolve a conflict as it descends into civil war.

The Arab League's resolution did not spell out whether its proposed joint U.N.-Arab peacekeeping force would involve armed troops, or whether the aid offered to the opposition would include weapons.

Syria's uprising, in which the United Nations says more than 5,000 people have died, has become one of the bloodiest of the Arab Spring revolts sweeping the region since the end of 2010.
   
The head of the Arab League, Nabil Elaraby, has said China and Russia lost diplomatic credit in the Arab world for their veto of the Feb. 4 U.N Security Council draft resolution.

AP/Reuters