Rosa Prince: Russia and China block British Attempts to End Syria Bloodshed

British attempts to seek an end to the bloodshed in Syria were rebuffed by Russia and China on Monday, as international divisions appeared to have grown over how to tackle the crisis. New York descended into a war of words between Hilary Clinton, the United States Secretary of State, and her Russian counterpart Sergey Lavrov. The increasingly heated tone of the negotiations came despite calls from Ban Ki-moon, the UN Secretary General, for the international community to speak with one voice and help Syria "pull back from the brink of a deeper catastrophe." Opening the meeting, Mr Hague said: "The situation in Syria casts a long shadow over this debate. In the eyes of the overwhelming majority of the world, this Council has so far failed in its responsibilities towards the Syrian people. "It has failed to address the brutal oppression of peaceful protesters by the Syrian regime. It is time for the Security Council to show unity and leadership." Mr Hague was chairing the Security Council debate, because the United Kingdom currently occupies the revolving chairmanship of the UN's ruling body. Britain had hoped to take advantage of the opportunity of the debate to accelerate negotiations in a series of meetings on the sidelines, possibly paving the way for a new UN resolution, which would set out a pathway towards a transfer of power from the government of President Assad. But both Russia and China made clear that they do not support regime change, and could not sign up to a resolution that did not also involve a ceasefire by the Syrian opposition. During angry exchanges, Mrs Clinton said: "We reject any equivalence between premeditated murders by a government's military machine and the actions of civilians under siege driven to self-defense."