Russia and China have said that the new UN resolution on the Middle East war drawn up by France and the United States would have to be accepted by Israel and Lebanon to achieve any success.
But the two key permanent members of the UN Security Council indicated general support for the text agreed after days of intense talks by France and the United States.
"This is a brand new draft, so the two sides (Israel and Lebanon) will need to have another look at it and hopefully, when the resolution comes to vote, the two sides will be comfortable with it," said Russia's UN ambassador Vitaly Churkin.
Churkin said he had raised the reaction of Israel and Lebanon during a UN Security Council meeting when the text was presented.
"The co-sponsors explained once again why this resolution should be accepted by the two parties and I very much hope that eventually there will be an outcome where the two parties will be able to support this resolution," he added.
"I think nobody is completely happy with a number of elements in this resolution but this is the case in almost every situation of this sort," he added.
{{/usCountry}}"I think nobody is completely happy with a number of elements in this resolution but this is the case in almost every situation of this sort," he added.
{{/usCountry}}"I think it is very important that there is a call for a full cessation of hostilities. If the parties abide by this call then hopefully the bloodshed will stop and we will move onto the political process."
China's acting ambassador Liu Zhenmin called the text "a good basis" which had been sent back to Beijing for a final verdict. But he emphasised: "We need to ensure that the parties can agree to the resolution.