Russia says it will do everything it can to block the United Nations from imposing sanctions on Syria.
A spokesman for Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov expressed Moscow's intentions Wednesday at the start Mr. Lavrov's trip to Israel.
The United States, France and Britain circulated a draft resolution in the U.N. Security Council late Tuesday that demands Syria detain any of its nationals suspected in the killing of former Lebanese Prime Minister Rafik Hariri.
The draft resolution calls for an asset freeze and travel ban against any suspects in the case, and would threaten Damascus with sanctions if it fails to cooperate with a U.N. probe.
The probe has implicated Syrian and Lebanese officials in the killing.
Syrian officials have rejected the U.N. probe, saying it was influenced by Syria's opponents.