Russia, France push dueling UN Security Council draft resolutions on terrorism

Russian Ambassador to the United Nations Vitaly Churkin. (REUTERS)

Russia submitted a revised draft U.N. Security Council resolution aimed at coordinating international efforts to fight terrorism, but it still allows President Bashar Assad's government to maintain a decisive role in addressing the crisis in Syria.

France is in the process of crafting its own resolution in response to the Paris attacks. The latest Russian text pushes for U.N. approval of international military campaigns combating ISIS. Though they welcome idea of coordinated efforts, Western council diplomats tell Fox News the Assad language is unacceptable.

“We need to take into account the latest tragic events in Paris, Sinai,” Moscow’s envoy to the U.N., Vitaly Churkin, told journalists Wednesday. "All members of the international community [need] to work together in particular on the issue of finding and bringing to justice the terrorists who commit those horrendous attacks."

The current Russian text is based on a proposal that was circulated to the 15-member Security Council on September 30th that called for a global counter-terrorism response to ISIS and other terror groups that adheres to the principles of international law. The proposal stressed that any military operations conducted in Syria must be approved by the state’s authority, namely the Assad regime. The U.S., U.K. and France threatened to veto the measure at the time.

Russia decided to revise its draft after French President Francois Hollande earlier in the week announced that he wanted the Security Council to issue a resolution on terrorism. French Ambassador to the U.N. Francois Delattre said Paris' resolution will be “short, strong and focused on the fight against our common enemy.”

Delattre referred to the Russian draft resolution as “a contribution that we will carefully study.” But he promoted the French draft rather than the Russian one, adding Paris wants “to make sure that the international community is united in the fight against Daesh (Islamic State).”

In pushing Moscow’s resolution rather than a French one, Ambassador Churkin said that Russia is "calling for cooperation, closer cooperation than we currently have now, with those who are fighting terrorists in Syria and Iraq." He added that Russia is open to considering any constructive aspects of the French proposal.