UNITED NATIONS (AP) – The deeply divided U.N. Security Council failed to agree on a European and U.S.-backed statement condemning Syrian violence against peaceful protesters on Wednesday, with Russia saying security forces were also killed and the actions don’t threaten international peace.

“A real threat could arise from outside interference or taking of sides,” Russia’s deputy U.N. ambassador Alexander Pankin warned the U.N.’s most powerful body during a public session that followed, saying this could lead to civil war.

China and India called for political dialogue and peaceful resolution of the crisis, with no mention of condemnation. And Lebanon’s U.N. Ambassador Nawaf Salam stressed the country’s special relationship with Syria, saying “the hearts and minds” of the Lebanese people are with the Syrian people and are supporting President Bashar Assad’s lifting of the state of emergency and reforms.

France, Britain, Germany and Portugal circulated a draft media statement on Monday calling for the 15-member council to condemn the violence. But during consultations Wednesday afternoon, several members were opposed so at the request of the Europeans and the U.N. the Security Council then moved into open session to hear a briefing from the U.N. political chief and statements from council members.

Syria’s U.N. Ambassador Bashar Ja’afari welcomed the council’s inaction and questioned the “unprecedented enthusiasm” by some members for the statement and a “lack of such enthusiasm” for attempting to end the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.

The Syrian ambassador blamed the violence on “extremist groups whose fundamental objective is clearly the fall of the Syrian government” and said law enforcement had acted with the “utmost restraint” to prevent the killing of civilians. He waved a list of 51 members of the armed forces he said were killed “by armed gangs.”

He said the campaign by extremists began as information surfaced of outside parties “financing acts of sabotage.” He pointed to a report of the U.S. government financing an opposition satellite television station and opposition figures bent on ousting Assad.

Ja’afari defended the government’s reforms, said more will come and that the government had detained members of “extremist circles” in Daraa, the city at the heart of the Syrian uprising, and confiscated sophisticated weapons including machine-guns. He said those detained admitted their crimes and said they received “large sums for their acts.”

But U.N. political chief B. Lynn Pascoe and the United States and the Europeans painted a very different picture of events.

Pascoe told the council that “a review of the reports of media, international human rights groups, U.N. agencies and diplomatic missions confirm that the overwhelming majority of protests have been peaceful and unarmed.”

“However, there have been credible reports of a very few instances where protesters have used force, resulting in the deaths of members of the security forces,” said Pascoe.