By Steve Gutterman

MOSCOW (Reuters) - Russia sought to delay a U.N. Security Council vote on a resolution aimed at ending the bloodshed in Syria, warning on Saturday of a "scandal" if the current draft was put to council members, the Itar-Tass news agency reported.

Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov's remarks, which Itar-Tass said came in an interview to be aired on state-run Rossiya-1 television, suggest Russia would likely veto the resolution if its latest proposed amendments were not taken into account.

"If they want another scandal for themselves in the Security Council, then we probably cannot stop them," Lavrov said, according to Itar-Tass. Rossiya-1 said the interview was recorded early on Saturday.

Lavrov said he hoped the draft - scheduled to be put to a vote at 1500GMT on Saturday - would not come to a vote without changes "because our amendments to this draft are well-known."

"I sent them to (U.S. Secretary of State) Hillary Clinton yesterday, and to our representative at the United Nations to convey them to our partners," Lavrov was quoted as saying.

"The reasonableness and objectivity of these amendments should not raise any doubts. I hope that a prejudiced view does not prevail over common sense."

Activists said on Saturday that more than 200 people had been killed in shelling by Syrian forces in the city of Homs, ahead the U.N. vote.

In the remarks reported by Itar-Tass, Lavrov gave no detail about the proposed changes in the resolution, which gives "full support" to an Arab League plan that calls for Syrian President Bashar al-Assad to cede power.

Western and Arab nations that have pushed for Assad to give up power after an 11-month government crackdown that the United Nations says has led to more than 5,000 deaths are struggling to overcome Russian resistance to Security Council action.

REVISED

They revised a draft resolution first circulated last month to deal with Russia's concerns, adding some language it wanted and removing sections that Moscow had suggested would prompt it to use its veto power as a permanent Council member. Continued...