Thursday’s action marked the third time Russia and China have vetoed a resolution on Syria in the past nine months. The U.S. ambassador to the United Nations, Susan Rice, condemned the veto.

Susan Rice: “The Security Council has failed utterly in its most important task on its agenda this year. This is another dark day in Turtle Bay. One can only hope that one day, before too many thousands more die, that Russia and China will stop protecting Assad and allow this council to play its proper role at the center of the international response to the crisis in Syria.”