US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton demanded UN action to stop spiraling violence in Syria.
Efforts are under way to persuade Russia to agree on acting against Syria. Russia is reluctant to commit itself to be part of a combined effort against Syria.
Clinton said she would join the foreign ministers of France and Britain and the Arab League chief at the United Nations on Tuesday.
“The United States condemns in the strongest possible terms the escalation of the Syrian regime’s violent and brutal attacks on its own people,” Clinton said in a statement.
“The Security Council must act and make clear to the Syrian regime that the world community views its actions as a threat to peace and security. The violence must end, so that a new period of democratic transition can begin,” she said.
The Security Council session, she said, aimed to send a clear message from the international community to the Syrian people: “We stand with you.”
Russia, the leading diplomatic supporter and arms supplier to Syrian President Bashar al-Assad, has maintained that it would use its veto power against an Arab League-supported resolution that calls for a ceasefire.
Meanwhile, Russia has also called for Assad’s regime and the opposition to hold ‘informal contacts’ in Moscow without any preconditions.
