Russia is confronting again with the United States and its Western allies, saying airstrikes on suspected chemical sites in Syria have set back any political negotiations to end the seven-year conflict.
The U.S., France and Britain insist that recent events are an opportunity to get the political process back on track.
The exchange came Tuesday during the sixth meeting that the U.N. Security Council has held on Syria in nine days.
Russia called the council meeting to discuss the humanitarian situation in Raqqa, which was the de facto capital of the Islamic State extremist group's "caliphate" until its ouster in October. Also on the agenda was Rukban, a town on the Jordan-Syria border where some 50,000 displaced Syrians have been left stranded.