BEIJING, Sept. 6 (Xinhuanet) -- The US Ambassador to the United Nations has accused Moscow of holding the Security Council "hostage" by blocking action against Syria. Five countries including Russia, the US, China, France and Britain hold the power to veto Security Council resolutions. Ambassador Samantha Power criticized the veto system, saying the US can see no "viable path forward in the Security Council."

Samantha Power, US Ambassador to the UN, said, "The system has protected the prerogatives of Russia, the patron of a regime that would brazenly stage the world’s largest chemical weapons attack in a quarter century while chemical weapons inspectors sent by the United Nations were just across town. And even in the wake of the flagrant shattering of the international norm against chemical weapons use, Russia continues to hold the council hostage and shirk its international responsibilities including as a party to the chemical weapons convention."

(Source: CNTV.cn)