America’s ambassador accuses Russia of “barbarism” in Aleppo. Britain’s envoy, Matthew Rycroft, goes even further, accusing Vladimir Putin of teaming up with the Syrian dictator Bashar Assad “to carry out war crimes”. This is a rare show of anger aimed directly at one of the world’s major powers at the United Nations. But will it make any difference?

If the past is anything to go by, no. Russia’s own envoys are masters at deflecting such criticism, particularly over who is to blame for civilian deaths. Moscow’s UN ambassador, Vitaliy Churkin, suggests that the latest Syrian peace effort has broken down because the West is supplying Islamist militants. America, he says, can’t tell the difference between opposition groups and terrorists.

Russia’s justification for continuing its bombardment of Aleppo during the ceasefire has rested on the lack of clarity over this term between itself and the US.