Russia, China and a handful of other countries voted against a resolution on Syria passed by the UN General Assembly, saying it undermines peace efforts.
Moscow's UN envoy said the resolution was one-sided and supported the armed opposition – criticising it and saying that it was tantamount to favouring one side over another in a civil war.
Western nations praised the resolution, which passed by 133 votes to 12 with 31 abstentions.
The assembly debated the resolution, which was proposed by Saudi Arabia, shortly after the resignation of UN-Arab League envoy Kofi Annan and the failure of his six-point peace plan.
The resolution, condemning the Syrian government and calling for a political transition is not legally binding, but the overwhelming “Yes” vote is being seen as proof that they have world opinion behind them.
But the massive majority was not easily secured. The text had to be watered down in an attempt to win over many states, dropping explicit calls for Bashar al-Assad to step down and for member states to support Arab League sanctions.
Though not many countries opposed the resolution, these again included China and Russia – both of which have tried to block resolutions calling for sanctions against Syria. Russia said the resolution “only aggravates confrontational approaches to the resolution of the Syrian crisis, doing nothing to facilitate dialogue between the parties”.
Russia says that the resolution called on the UN envoy to work towards a transition to democracy in Syria, yet the envoy's task had been to arrange dialogue, not regime change.
Syria said Saudi Arabia and fellow resolution sponsor Qatar were trying to act as both “a fireman and an arsonist at the same time”.
The resolution expresses “grave concern” at the escalation of violence in Syria and deplores “the failure of the Security Council to agree on measures to ensure the compliance of Syrian authorities with its decisions”.
But western nations thing differently. UK Foreign Secretary William Hague said: “This resolution... sends a clear signal that the world stands together in condemning the Syrian regime's systematic human rights violations and in calling for accountability.”
During the assembly's session, UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon said the conflict in Syria had become a “proxy war” and called on powers to overcome their rivalries in an effort to end the violence.
Meanwhile, the death toll continues to rise and is estimated now to be past the 20,000 mark.
In Damascus, eyewitnesses and activists say government forces used dozens of tanks and armoured vehicles to attack what had been seen as the rebels' last stronghold in the capital.
Fighting also continued in Aleppo, where government forces have been trying to reclaim areas seized by the Free Syrian Army (FSA) in the past two weeks.
The scenes in Syria are becoming reminiscent of those witnessed in Misurata, Libya, when Gaddafi’s army began to shell the town indiscriminately. This has been going on for over a year. People die everyday and the violence escalates. Something must be done to end the bloodshed – and that will not happen until Bashar al Assad goes.