MOSCOW — Foreign Minister Sergey V. Lavrov of Russia made clear on Monday that the Kremlin has no intention of supporting a British proposal to enact United Nations sanctions as a solution to the Syrian crisis.

Mr. Lavrov characterized Western foreign policy in Syria as naïve and dangerous and said it failed to take into account the vulnerability of Christian and Muslim religious minorities and the presence of terrorists among the armed opposition.

Persuading Russia to take a harder line on Syria is "not the key" to finding peace, he said in comments to journalists at the Foreign Ministry before a meeting with Kofi Annan, the United Nations and Arab League special envoy on Syria.

The pressure on Russia from the West has "elements of blackmail" ahead of a vote in the Security Council later this week on extending the mission of United Nations observers, Mr. Lavrov said.

A Western-backed British proposal would link the extension of this mission with an ultimatum to President Bashar al-Assad to withdraw heavy weapons from populated areas or face economic sanctions. The British proposal would invoke Chapter 7 of the United Nations Charter, which empowers the Security Council to enforce its demands with economic sanctions, and, if deemed necessary, military action. "To our great regret, there are elements of blackmail," Mr. Lavrov said. "We are being told: if you do not agree to the resolution under Chapter 7 of the U.N. Charter, then we shall refuse to extend the mandate of the monitoring mission in this country."

"We consider it an absolutely counterproductive and dangerous approach since it is unacceptable to use observers as bargaining chips," he said.
Mr. Lavrov’s statement suggested that there was little room for Russia to shift its position closer to the British-backed resolution. Russia has a competing proposal: to extend the military observer mission under a slightly broader mandate, allowing it some political role.

The United Nations observers over the weekend investigated violence in a farming community, Tremseh, which Syrian opposition groups had characterized as a massacre. Mr. Lavrov, questioned about the incident, said the observers found signs both the military and the opposition were armed and fought in the village.

In such conditions, Mr. Lavrov said, Russia is not the "key" to resolving the Syrian crisis. The Kremlin’s influence stops short of being able to persuade Mr. Assad to declare a cease-fire with no corresponding agreement by the opposition.

Western nations have a role, too, Mr. Lavrov said, in exerting what influence they have on the Free Syrian Army, the main armed insurgent group, to halt the fighting.

"Any violence deserves condemnation. But condemnation alone will not suffice. Pressure should be put on the regime and on the opposition in order to end the violence there," he said.

Mr. Annan will meet on Tuesday with the Russian president, Vladimir V. Putin. He is visiting Russia as the United Nations secretary general, Ban Ki-moon, is on a mission to China to ask for support from Beijing on stronger action in Syria. The mandate for the U.N. observers expires on Friday.

Mr. Lavrov’s comments made clear that Russia is unlikely to compromise. "If our partners decide to block our resolution at any cost, the U.N. mission will not have a mandate and will have to leave Syria," he said. "That would be lamentable."

He also expressed concern for the fate of minorities, including Orthodox Christians, in Syria if a principally Sunni Muslim opposition comes to power. Orthodox churches in both countries maintain close ties.