Russia and China vetoed a U.N. Security Council resolution that would have imposed non-military sanctions on Syria, but the United States says it will work outside the Council to pressure the Assad government in Damascus and deliver assistance to victims of the fighting there.

Russia and China's “no” votes blocked extension of the U.N. monitoring team in Syria and special envoy Kofi Annan's peace mission.

The U.S. ambassador to the U.N., Susan Rice, said the Security Council “utterly failed” on Syria. She declared the United States will work “with a diverse range of partners outside the Security Council to bring pressure to bear on the Assad regime and to deliver assistance to those in need” in Syria.

Intense fighting between Syrian rebels and government forces was still under way in Damascus following the bomb attack in the capital that killed three senior military and intelligence officials .