The resolution, sponsored by the United States and Britain, urged the islanders to vote in favor of a UN plan to reunify the island at Saturday’s twin referendums. Russia was the only member of the Security Council to reject the resolution. The other 14 members supported it.

Gennady Gatilov, Russia's Deputy Ambassador to the UN, said Moscow saw the resolution as an attempt to put pressure on Cypriot voters, and it did not like the way the resolution was put to the vote.

According to Izvestia, Russians did not like that the US and Britain drafted the document without consulting other members of the Security Council, and put it to the vote almost without discussion. A 14 to 1 vote in the UN Security Council is a very rare occasion.

Some questions arise in this respect. Why did not Russia “work” with other members, for example, China? Over the past few years, Moscow and Beijing voted in the same way in the Security Council on almost all issues. Perhaps, Russia could have persuaded China to abstain, at least. But it seems this was not even attempted.

There is an impression that Russian diplomats wanted Russia to be the only country to veto the resolution. In other words, Moscow needed an effective action to attract attention and get into the spotlight. This aim was achieved, but the question is what for?

Perhaps, this action was aimed against Western allies, in the first place, the United States. Moscow sends a message: it will not readily sign UN resolutions prepared by others, the newspaper concludes.