Russia on Friday rejected Western criticism over its veto of a UN Security Council resolution that would have threatened Syrian authorities with sanctions if they did not halt violence against an uprising.

Russia Foreign Ministry spokesman Alexander Lukashevich said the draft resolution Russia and China blocked on Thursday was "absolutely unrealistic" and called on Western nations to put more pressure on Syrian rebels to stop fighting.

Russia sharply criticised the US over what the US ambassador to the United Nations said were plans to work with partners outside the UN Security Council to pressure Syria's government after Moscow vetoed a draft resolution.

"If such declarations and such plans are elements of actual policy, I think that is a very, very alarming signal to all of us," Lukashevich told a weekly briefing.

[Source: Reuters]