Russia and China on Saturday defended their decision to veto proposed UN sanctions against Zimbabwe.

The Russian Foreign Ministry¹ in a statement said it was "impermissible" that the US and UK's criticism called into doubt Russia's worthiness² as a Group of Eight (G8) partner, because the G8 powers agreed not to mention UN sanctions in the joint³ statement on Zimbabwe, albeit⁴ at Russia's behest.

"The American and British UN representatives in the best-case scenario⁵ are totally uninformed about the discussion of the G8 leaders in Tokyo, and in the worst case they are deliberately⁶ distorting the facts," the statement said.

US Ambassador Zalmay Khalilzad said Russia had initially⁷ indicated it would abstain⁸ rather than veto.

"The Russian performance here today raises questions about its reliability⁹ as a G-8 partner," he said.

British Foreign Secretary David Miliband added that the vetoes "will appear incomprehensible to the people of Zimbabwe".

Russia says it believes the sanctions would set a dangerous precedent¹⁰ for UN Security Council meddling¹¹ in internal affairs.

Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Liu Jianchao defended the veto as right for Zimbabwe.

"Under present conditions, passing a sanctions resolution against Zimbabwe would not help to encourage the various factions¹² there to engage in political dialogue and negotiations¹³ and achieve results," Liu said in a statement.

"On the contrary, it would further complicate¹⁴ conditions in Zimbabwe," Liu said, adding that China's call that the African Union be given more time for mediation¹⁵ was ignored.
 

Questions:

1. Which African country is at the center of controversy¹⁶ regarding proposed sanctions from some members of the UN Security Council?

2. What reason did the Russian spokesperson offer for vetoing the UN Security Council vote?

Answers:

1. Zimbabwe.

2. The belief that sanctions would set a dangerous precedent for UN Security Council meddling in internal affairs.