Britain fights to keep Mugabe sanctions on track after bombshell veto by the UN

Gordon Brown was last night fighting to salvage Britain’s policy on Zimbabwe after moves to impose sanctions on Robert Mugabe’s regime collapsed.

Zimbabwe expressed delight after Russia and China used their vetoes on the UN Security Council to block a joint resolution tabled by Britain and the United States.

Their move proved embarrassing for Mr Brown, who had told the G8 conference in Japan just days earlier that he had secured international backing for action.

The veto, described by Foreign Secretary David Miliband as ‘incomprehensible’, killed off a plan to impose an arms embargo, freeze the international assets of Mugabe and his closest advisers and slap a travel ban on the government.

The measures were planned as a response to last month’s sham election in which 84-year-old Mugabe ran unopposed after a campaign of violent intimidation by his supporters forced the withdrawal of his opponent Morgan Tsvangirai.

Russia and China – who are both trying to improve their trade links to Africa – said they had opposed sanctions because the situation in Zimbabwe did not pose a ‘threat to international peace and security’.

Last night, a Downing Street spokesman said that Mr Brown would fight to circumvent the veto by asking UN Secretary General Ban Ki-Moon to send his envoy to Zimbabwe and by holding talks with EU leaders about extending existing Brussels sanctions against Mugabe.

The spokesman said: ‘It was right to push for a tough resolution and those who stood in its way must now take responsibility for the failure of the Security Council to act.

‘We will return to the Security Council. This is not the outcome we sought, but we have other options.’