World Bulletin / News Desk

Russia vetoed a UN Security Council draft text Tuesday that would have established a new expert body to determine culpability for a suspected chemical attack in Syria.

The U.S. draft had the overwhelming support of the council with 12 members of the 15-member council voting in favor, and only two -- Russia and Bolivia -- voting against. China abstained.

Nikki Haley, the U.S.' UN envoy, ripped Moscow shortly after the vote concluded, saying it had “trashed the credibility of the council."

"The votes have been cast. The record will show that today some countries decided to stand up for truth," Haley said.

"The record will not be kind to one permanent member of this council."

An alleged chemical attack outside of Damascus Saturday night killed dozens of people and injured hundreds of others.

The White Helmets, a civil defense agency, blamed the Assad regime for the attack in Eastern Ghouta's Douma, which it said killed 78 civilians and injured hundreds of others.

Tuesday's veto is Russia's twelfth of council resolutions seeking to hold the Assad regime accountable for rights violations. Six of those resolutions would have condemned the regime for chemical weapons attacks.

Vassily Nebenzia, Russia's ambassador to the UN, accused the U.S. of "trying to mislead the international community".

The U.S. and its allies in the international arena have already determined the guilty party, Nebenzia said, claiming they "were simply looking for a pretext" to take action against Bashar al-Assad.