DIPLOMACY

Russia Ready to Support Syria Actions

After Western powers weaken statement.

Russia announced Wednesday that it is ready to support U.N. envoy Kofi Annan’s mission to Syria, which the Security Council has been debating and drafting a “presidential statement” to accompany. Western powers revised a draft of the statement Tuesday, removing a vague threat of future actions against Bashar al-Assad's regime in hope of winning the support of the hesitant Chinese and Russians. It originally called for the Security Council to review the implementation of international envoy Annan's six-point proposal, and then propose "further measures" if it proved ineffective. The new draft removed the threat of possible military sanctions.