Syria on brink of being drawn into Middle East conflict, says Russian envoy to UN

Syria is teetering on the brink of being drawn into a large-scale conflict in the Middle East, Russia's ambassador to the UN, Vasily Nebenzya, said at a meeting of the UN Security Council, devoted to the situation in that country.

"The difficult situation on the ground in Syria is aggravated by the sharp escalation of the Palestinian-Israeli conflict. The country, like a number of its neighbors in the region, is literally balancing on the verge of being drawn into a large-scale confrontation," he said.

Nebenzya added that Russia supported the restoration of the Constitutional Committee's work "as part of the advancement of the Syrians-owned political process being conducted with UN assistance."