Tensions have deepened in the UN Security Council after rival resolutions on Syria backed by Russia and the West were both rejected – offering no respite for the country's besieged city of Aleppo.

Russia vetoed a UN resolution drafted by France, demanding an immediate end to the bombing campaign being carried out by Russia, the Syrian government’s ally, in rebel-held districts of Aleppo.

A rival measure put forward by Russia, which called for a ceasefire but made no mention of a halt to the airstrikes, was rejected after failing to get nine votes from the 15-member council.

It was the fifth time Moscow used its veto to block UN action to end the five-year war in Syria, which has claimed 300,000 lives.

Russia's UN ambassador Vitaly Churkin, the current rotating council president, called the vote a “waste of time" and “inadmissible”, claiming the Security Council met knowing that neither resolution would be adopted.

Nine countries, including the UK, France and the United States, voted against the Russian draft. Russia, China, Egypt and Venezuela voted in favour, while Angola and Uruguay abstained.

The measure presented by France won 11 votes, but Russia and Venezuela voted against. China and Angola abstained.

In pictures: Russian air strikes in Syria Show all 19 1 /19 In pictures: Russian air strikes in Syria In pictures: Russian air strikes in Syria Syrian boys cry following Russian air strikes on the rebel-held Fardous neighbourhood of the northern embattled Syrian city of Aleppo Getty In pictures: Russian air strikes in Syria Russian defense ministry spokesman Major General Igor Konashenkov speaks to the media in Moscow, Russia. Konashenkov strongly warned the United States against striking Syrian government forces and issued a thinly-veiled threat to use Russian air defense assets to protect them AP In pictures: Russian air strikes in Syria Syrians wait to receive treatment at a hospital following Russian air strikes on the rebel-held Fardous neighbourhood of the northern embattled Syrian city of Alepp Getty In pictures: Russian air strikes in Syria Russian Deputy Defense Minister Anatoly Antonov speaks at a briefing in the Defense Ministry in Moscow, Russia. Antonov said the Russian air strikes in Syria have killed about 35,000 militants, including about 2,700 residents of Russia AP In pictures: Russian air strikes in Syria Jameel Mustafa Habboush, receives oxygen from civil defence volunteers, known as the white helmets, as they rescue him from under the rubble of a building following Russian air strikes on the rebel-held Fardous neighbourhood of the northern embattled Syrian city of Aleppo Getty In pictures: Russian air strikes in Syria Civil defence members rest amidst rubble in a site hit by what activists said were airstrikes carried out by the Russian air force in the town of Douma, eastern Ghouta in Damascus, Syria Reuters In pictures: Russian air strikes in Syria A girl carrying a baby inspects damage in a site hit by what activists said were airstrikes carried out by the Russian air force in the town of Douma, eastern Ghouta in Damascus, Syria Reuters In pictures: Russian air strikes in Syria Civilians and civil defence members look for survivors at a site damaged after Russian air strikes on the Syrian rebel-held city of Idlib, Syria Reuters In pictures: Russian air strikes in Syria Civilians and civil defence members carry an injured woman on a stretcher at a site damaged after Russian air strikes on the Syrian rebel-held city of Idlib, Syria Reuters In pictures: Russian air strikes in Syria Volunteers from Syria Civil Defence, also known as the White Helmets, help civilians after Russia carried out its first airstrikes in Syria In pictures: Russian air strikes in Syria The aftermath of Russian airstrike in Talbiseh, Syria In pictures: Russian air strikes in Syria Smoke billows from buildings in Talbiseh, in Homs province, western Syria, after airstrikes by Russian warplanes AP In pictures: Russian air strikes in Syria Russian Air Forces carry out an air strike in the ISIS controlled Al-Raqqah Governorate. Russia's KAB-500s bombs completely destroy the Liwa al-Haqq command unit In pictures: Russian air strikes in Syria Caspian Flotilla of the Russian Navy firing Kalibr cruise missiles against remote Isis targets in Syria Â© TASS/ITAR-TASS Photo/Corbis In pictures: Russian air strikes in Syria Russia claimed it hit eight Isis targets, including a "terrorist HQ and co-ordination centre" that was completely destroyed In pictures: Russian air strikes in Syria A video grab taken from the footage made available on the Russian Defence Ministry's official website, purporting to show an airstrike in Syria In pictures: Russian air strikes in Syria A release from the Russian defence ministry purportedly showing targets in Syria being hit In pictures: Russian air strikes in Syria Russia launched air strikes in war-torn Syria, its first military engagement outside the former Soviet Union since the occupation of Afghanistan in 1979. Russian warplanes carried out strikes in three Syrian provinces along with regime aircraft as Putin seeks to steal US President Barack Obama's thunder by pushing a rival plan to defeat Isis militants in Syria In pictures: Russian air strikes in Syria Caspian Flotilla of the Russian Navy firing Kalibr cruise missiles against remote Isis targets in Syria, a thousand kilometres away. The targets include ammunition factories, ammunition and fuel depots, command centres, and training camps Â© TASS/ITAR-TASS Photo/Corbis

The votes reflected the deep divisions in the UN's most powerful body which is charged with ensuring international peace and security but has failed to take action to end the five-year Syrian conflict which has killed more than 300,000 people and displaced millions.

As the council meeting got underway, the Syrian regime pushed its assault on rebel-held areas of Aleppo, where 125,000 people are living under siege and facing almost daily bombing, AFP reports.

French Foreign Minister Jean-Marc Ayrault urged the council to take immediate action to save Aleppo: "What is at stake today is first and foremost the fate of Aleppo and its people," told the council.

He compared Aleppo to Guernica during the Spanish Civil War in the 1930s, Srebrenica during the Bosnian war and the Chechen capital Grozny which was pummelled by the Russian army in the mid-1990s.

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Mr Ayrault warned the continued bombing of Aleppo was killing civilians and destroying hospitals and schools - "and has nothing to do with combating terrorism," as Syrian president Bashar Assad's government and ally Russia claim.

Mr Churkin said the demand for a bombing halt in Aleppo was "not fleshed out" and would affect the government-controlled western part of the city as well as the rebel-held east.

When Syria's UN ambassador Bashar Ja'afari started speaking a number of ambassadors walked out, including the representatives of the UK, France, Ukraine and the US.

The Syrian and Russian bombing campaign has escalated since the Russian-backed Syrian army launched an offensive to retake the city on 22 September.