The U.N. Security Council on Saturday unanimously authorized the deployment of up to 30 unarmed observers to Syria to monitor the country's fragile ceasefire.

Russia and China joined the other 13 council members and voted in favor of the Western-Arab draft resolution. Russian U.N. Ambassador Vitaly Churkin, however, made clear that there were limits to the kind of U.N. action Moscow could support.

"Out of respect for the sovereignty of Syria we have cautioned against destructive attempts at external interference or imposing any kind of illusory fixes," he said.