Willima Hague and fellow EU leaders imposed fresh sanctions on Syria today as an international war of words erupted over how to deal with President Bashar al-Assad's regime.
Foreign ministers met in Brussels to agree another diplomatic squeeze, including freezing Syrian central bank assets, blacklisting more top officials, and banning Syria's cargo planes from landing at European airports.
China and Russia hit back at American criticism of their stance. After US secretary of state Hillary Clinton called their veto of a UN resolution "despicable", a Chinese foreign ministry spokesman said: "This is totally unacceptable for us."
Russian prime minister Vladimir Putin said Moscow would not allow a replay of Libya, where NATO airstrikes helped rebels oust the Gaddafi regime. He added: "Learning from that bitter experience, we are against any UN Security Council resolutions that could be interpreted as a signal for military interference in domestic processes in Syria." But Mr Hague said Russia and China's actions were wrong "in the eyes of the world" .
The Foreign Secretary also dismissed yesterday's referendum on constitutional reform in Syria, as shells continued to fall on rebel strongholds including Homs. At least 7,500 people are estimated to have died in the 11-month uprising.
