PORTLAND — U.S. Sen. Susan Collins says she will vote against a resolution to allow President Barack Obama to use military force in Syria.

The Republican from Maine, a senior member of the Senate Intelligence Committee, said in a speech on the Senate floor that she has been in discussions with the president, vice president and others but cannot support a military intervention.

Collins said “the horrific use of chemical weapons” on Syrian civilians violated international convention but military strikes against the Assad regime would risk involving the U.S. in Syria’s civil war without much chance of resolving it and possibly leading to a “proxy war” with Hezbollah or Iran.

Collins said she hoped instead that negotiations with the Russians will lead to the removal of Syria’s chemical stockpiles.