Russia ready to veto UN measure on Aleppo observers

Russia is prepared to use its veto to block a French-drafted resolution on sending UN observers to Aleppo to monitor evacuations and help protect civilians, Moscow's envoy said today.

"We cannot allow it to pass because this is a disaster," Ambassador Vitaly Churkin told reporters.

The UN Security Council was set to meet for closed-door consultations followed by a vote on the proposals.

Churkin said Russia, Syria's ally, would put forward its own proposals for monitoring, but he declined to give details.

France circulated a draft text late Friday stating that the council is "alarmed" by the worsening humanitarian crisis in Aleppo and by the fact that "tens of thousands of besieged Aleppo inhabitants" are in need of aid and evacuation.

Russia has vetoed six resolutions on Syria since the conflict began in March 2011.