Britain will press the EU today to take stronger action on Zimbabwe after the UN Security Council decided not to impose sanctions.
On Friday, Russia and China vetoed an arms embargo and the imposition of travel and financial restrictions against President Robert Mugabe and his government officials.
Britain described Russia's veto as 'incomprehensible', and said it would try again if there is no progress in ending a crisis in the African state.
'I'm very disappointed that the U.N. Security Council should have failed to pass a strong and clear resolution on Zimbabwe,' Foreign Secretary David Miliband said in a statement on Saturday.
'It will appear incomprehensible to the people of Zimbabwe that Russia, which committed itself at the G8 to take further steps including introducing financial and other sanctions, should stand in the way of Security Council action,' Miliband said.
Zimbabwe's opposition party, the Movement for Democratic Change, said it had not been pressing for sanctions. The party said it was pursuing a negotiated settlement.
State media in Zimbabwe is reporting that the country's rival parties have moved closer to a deal to allow fully-fledged talks on the crisis.
According to the Sunday Mail newspaper, the ruling ZANU-PF and opposition Movement for Democratic Change are to draft a memorandum of engagement, which will be subject to approval by the parties' leaders.
'The working framework that has been agreed to so far removes the sticking points between the negotiating parties and paves way for serious talks,' the newspaper said, citing what it called highly placed sources.
