The political heavy hitters were all there at a key Security Council meeting early this week to decide on the future of beleaguered Syrian President Bashar al-Assad.

The lineup included U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, the Qatari Prime Minister Sheikh Hamad bin Jassim bin Jaber bin Muhammad Al Thani, the Secretary-General of the Arab League Nabil Elaraby, French Foreign Minister Alain Juppe and the British Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs William Hague.

But their collective warnings about the deteriorating political and military crises in Syria fell, at least, on one deaf ear: Russia.

Armed with a veto, Russia has refused to support a resolution, inspired by the Arab League, calling on Assad to step down as the only means to resolve the killings, mostly civilians.

According to published reports, more than 5,400 people have been killed in Syria since the beginning of the insurrection about 10 months ago.

Russia's unrelenting support for Assad is attributed primarily to its strong military relationship with Syria, including last week's 550- million-dollar contract to sell 36 Russian fighter planes to Damascus.

Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said in Moscow last month that his country will not support any Security Council resolution aimed at "regime change" in Syria.

Russia has also argued that Western nations deliberately misinterpreted a Security Council resolution against Libya last year to launch a military campaign to oust Muammar al-Gaddafi.

The no-fly zone inside Libya, as called for in that resolution,was used to justify air strikes against the Gaddafi regime. This will not repeat itself in Syria, the Russians have vowed.

Philippe Bolopion, U.N. director at Human Rights Watch, says any country should be wary of supporting the position of Russia, which is signing lucrative arms deals with the Syrian government while providing it with diplomatic cover.

Despite the absence of sanctions or a call for military intervention in the draft resolution, sponsored by Morocco, countries resisting action have argued that recent versions of the draft resolution could be used to justify a Libya-type intervention.

"Countries invoking the straw man of Libya are playing politics with the lives of ordinary Syrians," said Bolopion.