After a heated two-hour debate, the United Nations Security Council rejected a Russian resolution on Saturday that would have condemned airstrikes carried out hours earlier by the United States, Britain and France against Syria.

Russia, China and Bolivia voted for the resolution, but eight members voted against and four abstained. Even a majority vote would have been largely symbolic, as the three Western powers that carried out the attack hold veto power and would certainly have blocked it.

Symbolic as the debate was, its ferocity underscored the bitter divisions within the Security Council over whether Syria’s government had carried out a suspected chemical attack in the Damascus suburb of Douma on April 7, and whether the three Western allies were justified in using force without a clear legal mandate.

The United Nations secretary general, António Guterres, who had warned on Friday that “the Cold War is back with a vengeance,” urged the nations on Saturday “to show restraint” and to avoid a situation “spiraling out of control.”