Russia Defends Its Veto of UN Resolution on Syria

MOSCOW -- President Dmitry Medvedev has defended Rusia's decision to veto a European-backed U.N. Security Council resolution on Syria, saying it would have opened the door to a possible military action.

Medvedev said in televised remarks Friday that the authors of the resolution had refused to include a Russia-proposed provision saying there should be no foreign military interference in Syria. He said that refusal meant that the Western nations "weren't excluding the repetition of the Libyan scenario."

Russia and China vetoed Tuesday's measure, which would have been the first legally binding resolution against Syria since President Bashar Assad's forces began attacking pro-democracy protesters in mid-March. The United States and European countries have strongly criticized the veto.