A path to civil war

USA Today published the following quote, from the AP:

BEIRUT (AP) – A senior Russian diplomat Tuesday said a draft U.N. resolution demanding Syrian President Bashar Assad step aside is a "path to civil war," as Syrian troops besieged rebellious areas with hours of shelling and machine-gun fire.

I have one question.

What do they think is going on in Syria right now, anyway?  It looks like a civil war to me.

I don't suggest that we should all crank up the armies again and pile into Syria the way we did into Libya.  But if Russia thinks what's going on in Syria right now isn't a civil war, I'd like to know how they define one.