The UN Security Council in an emergency meeting has declined to back a Russian appeal for an immediate cease-fire in Yemen as a growing humanitarian crisis grips the war-torn country.
Russia requested the May 1 meeting in the sixth week of a Saudi-led air war on Yemen's Huthi rebels which has crippled deliveries of fuel, food, and medicine.
UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon has warned that fuel shortages could bring all relief operations to a halt "within days," echoing alarm from the International Red Cross.
During a closed-door session, Russia proposed a draft statement calling for an immediate cease-fire or at least humanitarian pauses in the fighting.
After failing to win support, Ambassador Vitaly Churkin lashed out at fellow envoys for paying "lip service" to the worsening crisis.
But Russia's diplomacy was greeted with some suspicion given Moscow's close ties to Iran, which is supporting the Huthi rebels who have seized the capital, Sanaa.
Diplomats said the Russian appeal was not rejected out of hand, but that council members needed time to consider the wording.
