UNITED NATIONS, July 8 (Xinhua) -- U.S. Ambassador Zalmay Khalilzad said Tuesday that his country expects a Security Council vote on proposed sanctions against Zimbabwe as soon as this week.

    The United States formally introduced to the 15-member council last week a draft resolution proposing targeted sanctions against Zimbabwe.

    Speaking to reporters after a council meeting, Khalilzad said that there is "broad agreement" among the council members that the council cannot be "indifferent" to what has happened in Zimbabwe.

    But he acknowledged that there are also "differences of view on exactly what should be done," with some members arguing for political pressure only.

    Khalilzad said that the aim of the resolution is to "add pressure to incentivize" Zimbabwean President Robert Mugabe to cooperate with international efforts to defuse the crisis.

    The U.S. draft asks the council to impose an arms embargo, a travel ban and an assets freeze against Mugabe and 11 of his top aids whom the United States has accused of being responsible for the violence before Zimbabwe's recent presidential election.

    The U.S. envoy said that enough votes have been garnered for the draft to be adopted.

    "Absent a veto, which we do not anticipate, the votes are thereto move forward on this resolution," he said.

    "I expect a vote on this resolution this week as soon as possible," he added.

    Zimbabwe's opposition MDC leader Morgan Tsvangirai won the March presidential election, but not by enough votes to avoid a run-off. Later, he refrained from taking part in the second round election, citing state-sponsored violence against his supporters.

    Mugabe was sworn in for a sixth term after being declared the winner of the June 27 run-off in which he was the sole candidate.