Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov wrote in a letter that Moscow would oppose the Security Council, of which it is a veto-wielding member, examining the Goldstone report, the official said on condition of anonymity.
"The Russian ambassador to Israel, Peter Stegnyi, handed the letter to the foreign ministry several days ago," he said.
There was no immediate reaction from Russia to the comments.
Russia on Friday was among the 25 countries that voted to endorse the Goldstone report at the Geneva-based UN Human Rights Council, a vote that Israel has blasted as "unjust." Six countries on the 47-member Council voted against and 16 either abstained or did not vote.
The report, compiled by a UN-mandated mission led by South African judge and war crimes prosecutor Richard Goldstone, accused Israel and Hamas of war crimes during the 22-day war at the turn of the year that killed 1,400 Palestinians and 13 Israelis.
The report recommended that its conclusions be passed to the prosecutor at the International Criminal Court at The Hague if the two sides fail to conduct credible investigations of the war within six months.
Discussion of the report at the Security Council would bring it one step closer to a possible referral to the ICC.
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