Annan deplores lack of unity on Syria, White House says Russia-China veto ‘highly regrettable’

International mediator Kofi Annan voiced disappointment on Thursday at the failure of world powers to reach a common position on Syria after China and Russia vetoed a Western resolution threatening Syrian authorities with sanctions.

“The Joint Special Envoy for Syria, Kofi Annan, is disappointed that at this critical stage the U.N. Security Council could not unite and take the strong and concerted action he had urged and hoped for. He believes that the voice of the Council is much more powerful when its Members act as one,” his spokesman Ahmed Fawzi said in a statement issued in Geneva.

Meanwhile, the United States condemned Thursday the “highly regrettable decision” of China and Russia to veto the U.N. Security Council resolution threatening sanctions against Assad.

It is a “mistake to prop up that regime,” President Barack Obama’s spokesman Jay Carney told a White House briefing shortly after Russia and China blocked U.N. action against Syria for the third time in nine months.

“They are on the wrong side of the Syrian people, the wrong side of hope for peace and stability in the region,” Carney told reporters after the vetoes were cast in New York. “It was a highly regrettable decision.”

Carney, aboard Air Force One with President Barack Obama headed for Florida, also said the United States does not support extending the U.N. observer mission in Syria after the failure of the Western-backed U.N. resolution.

He said Washington had made clear to the government of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad that it would be "held accountable" if it uses chemical weapons against the opposition waging an uprising against him.