Story highlights Exchanges between the US and Russia behind closed doors Thursday were particularly tense

By comparison to previous action, events late last week at the UN happened at warp speed

New York (CNN) The US missile strikes in Syria Thursday night exploded just as the UN Security Council in New York concluded a closed-door debate on Syria so heated one council diplomat said "there was blood on the floor."

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The Security Council -- the group of 15 countries charged with protecting international peace and security -- has seen only failures in Syria during the six years of war. Russia, backed by China, has vetoed seven different resolutions.

The years of frustration plus the new presence of US Ambassador to the United Nations Nikki Haley, with a more aggressive approach, contributed to a more heated discussion Thursday night.

The evening before at the Women in the World Summit in Manhattan, Haley smiled and said, "We don't do soft power." The UN meeting just two days after the chemical attack was to determine if there could be an international resolution to condemn the Syria gas attack and potentially state demands for Syria to comply with an international investigation.

The exchanges between the US and Russia behind closed doors were particularly tense. One council diplomat described the whole atmosphere as "exceptionally poisonous."

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