The Bulgarian Ministry of Foreign Affairs has stated Saturday the country welcomes a resolution by the UN General Assembly denouncing escalating violence in Syria and largely throwing the blame on the government of President Bashar Al-Assad.

"The approval of the text with a significant majority of UN members - 133 "for" and only 12 "against" - reaffirms the resolute will of the international community to oppose and denonuce the continuing violence and breach of human rights in Syria," stated Bulgarian Foreign Affairs Ministry spokeswoman Vesela Cherneva.

The non-binding General Council resolution was jointly tabled by Saudi Arabia, Egypt and Bahrain.

It expresses "grave concern" at the escalation of violence in Syria and deplores "the failure of the Security Council to agree on measures to ensure the compliance of Syrian authorities with its decisions".

"The first step in the cessation of violence has to be made by the Syrian authorities," the resolution further says, writes the BBC.

Russia and China, who have repeatedly vetoed resolutions on Syria by the UN Security Council, were among those who voted against, later expressing strong misgivings about the symbolic text.

Vitaly Churkin, Russia's UN ambassador, said on Friday that the main backers of the resolution, overwhelmingly passed by the UN assembly, were providing "mercenaries and arms" to the Syrian opposition.

"Behind the facade of humanitarian rhetoric, the resolution hides a blatant support for the armed opposition," Churkin told the assembly, writes Al Jazeera.

On his part, Chinese envoy Wang Min stated that "the resolution will derail the political settlement of the crisis, cause further escalation of the turmoil and let the crisis spill over to other countries in the region."

On its part, Bulgaria is in the camp of those who support the text - as are the UK, France and other Western powers.

"We value highly the resolve of Arab countries to send a strong political message to the parties in the conflict to continue efforts to execute the transition plan and bulid a democratic pluralistic system in Syria," said the Bulgarian Foreign Ministry.

We need your support so Novinite.com can keep delivering news and information about Bulgaria! Thank you!