The resolutions of the Security Council must be approved by the affirmative vote of nine of its 15 members with no veto by the five permanent members: the United States, France, Britain, Russia and China.
The document, submitted to a vote after a week of intense Western pressure, supports an Arab League initiative calling for the ouster of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad.
Shortly before the special meeting of the Security Council, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov asked for the removal from the draft resolution of any wording that set a precondition for dialogue between the conflicting parties in Syria.
