The United Nations Security Council has voted unanimously for a resolution demanding a 30-day humanitarian ceasefire in Syria, where government forces have stepped up attacks on the besieged rebel enclave of Eastern Ghouta, near Damascus.
Russia went along with the resolution after initial resistance.
Saturday's vote came after a flurry of last-minute negotiations on the text of the resolution, which was drafted by Kuwait and Sweden.
Russia had argued that there was no guarantee that militants would adhere to any ceasefire and demanded amendments to the draft.
Nikki Haley, the US ambassador to the UN, criticised Russia for delaying the vote, saying it had "belatedly decided to join the international consensus, marking a moment of council unity that we must maintain beyond the 30-day timeframe''.
She said that "hardly anything in the resolution has changed except a few words and commas''.
She expressed deep scepticism that the Syrian regime would "allow humanitarian access to all of those who need it'' and said that "our resolve to stand by our demands will be tested, and all of us must rise to the challenge''.
Reports from Beirut at the weekend said a new wave of bombs had struck Syria's eastern Ghouta unabated on Friday, as the war zone waited for the UN vote.
For a sixth straight day, warplanes have pounded the densely populated agricultural pocket east of the capital, the last rebel bastion near Damascus.
The recent escalation has killed at least 426 people and injured hundreds more, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights monitoring group says. The dead included at least 98 children.
Government attacks were targeting medical teams trying to help victims in Eastern Ghouta, according to the White Helmets, a volunteer rescue group.
Medical charities said jets had hit more than a dozen hospitals, making it nearly impossible to treat the wounded.
The Britain-based Observatory said government warplanes and artillery hit Douma, Zamalka, and other towns in Ghouta on Friday.
Civil Defence said its rescuers rushed to help the wounded and pulled hundreds of people from under the rubble.
Damascus and Moscow say they only target militants, and that they aim to prevent rebels from firing mortars at the capital. They have accused insurgents of holding residents as human shields in the Ghouta.
Nearly 400,000 people live in eastern Ghouta.
- DPA/Reuters
