Syrian 'stalemate' shows UN 'not fit for purpose', says head of General Assembly It was wrong that the world was blocked from taking action "because of the disagreement of one or two members," he said. After the resolution was vetoed in the Security Council last month, the General Assembly voted by a substantial majority to back the Arab League plan. However, while the Assembly vote was said by officials to have "sent a message" to the Assad regime, it was not legally binding, meaning it had little effect on the ground in Syria. Russia has long been an ally of Syria and has extensive trade links, including the sale of arms. Moscow and Beijing are also wary of supporting any measure which could be seen as sanctioning the use of foreign force to bring about regime change, as happened with a UN Security Council resolution on Libya last summer. But in an interview with The Independent, Mr Nasser said he could not understand how all nations could not sign up to the latest Security Council resolution because it was aimed at protecting Syrian civilians from further bloodshed. Mr Nasser's words echo a speech he gave at Oxford University last week in which he said: "The United Nations must implement urgent reforms to be able to effectively deal with new challenges."