Without mentioning Western countries, Lavrov told the council that unilateral sanctions, moves to "regime change" and encouraging the Syrian opposition were "risky recipes of geopolitical engineering which can only result in a spread of the conflict."

Change in the Arab world "must not be achieved by misleading the international community or manipulating the Security Council," Lavrov said, renewing condemnation of NATO's attacks in Libya last year.

Russia, Syria's closest ally, and China have twice vetoed UN council resolutions condemning the Syria violence, saying the European texts were unbalanced and only sought regime change.