BEIRUT: Russia is poised to wield its powerful veto for a second time after Western and Arab diplomats pulled out their diplomatic big guns at the Security Council Tuesday in a high-stakes standoff between Russia and the West over the crisis in Syria. U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton was leading the charge, backed by allies British Foreign Secretary William Hague and French Foreign Minister Alain Juppe as they tried to overcome Russian opposition to a draft resolution, crafted by the Western powers and the Arab League, aimed at stopping a Syrian crackdown the United Nations says has killed more than 5,400 people.

A Russian envoy said the inclusion of some Russian ideas in the European-Arab draft on Syria would “give rise to hope,” and make “consensus possible.”

Clinton vowed Syria would not become “another Libya” and warned inaction on the crisis would “shake the credibility of the United Nations,” accusing opponents of the resolution of complicity in the violence.

“We all have a choice: Stand with the people of Syria and the region or become complicit in the continuing violence there,” Clinton said, without mentioning Russia by name.

She said fears among some U.N. members that Syria was headed toward another Libya scenario were misplaced, instead saying violence in Syria was getting worse.

“I know some members here may be concerned that the Security Council is headed toward another Libya,” she said. “That is a false analogy.”

“The evidence is clear that [Syrian President] Assad’s forces are initiating nearly all the attacks that kill civilians, but as more citizens take up arms to resist the regime’s brutality, violence is increasingly likely to spiral out of control,” she added.

Juppe urged the council to end its “scandalous silence” over Syria.

“We are gathered here today to end the scandalous silence of this Council,” Juppe said. “We are gathered today in order for the Security Council to assume its responsibilities toward a suffering people.”

The draft demands Assad relinquish power to his deputy to form a national unity government that would lead to “transparent and free elections,” but contains nothing that would compel any state to use force or threaten force. A vote on the draft at the U.N. could come as early as this week.

Already considerably watered down from an October draft condemning the violence which was blocked by a double Russian and China in October, early indications suggest their efforts will be unsuccessful.

Russia has already objected to the draft, saying it worries the new measure could lead to military action and amounts to regime change, just as an Arab-backed U.N. resolution led to NATO strikes in Libya. “I don’t think Russian policy is about asking people to step down. Regime change is not our profession,” said Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov, arguing that while the Syrian president was not an ally of Moscow, it was not up to other nations to interfere.Russia’s Deputy Foreign Minister Gennady Gatilov said Tuesday on Twitter that the resolution is a “path to civil war.”

Juppe sought to allay those fears, saying “Syria is not Libya.”

“Nothing, absolutely nothing, in this proposed resolution ... can be interpreted as authorizing the use of force,” he said. “We have no intention of imposing a political regime from the outside. It will be up to the Syrians to do so.”

The Arab League also emphasized that international military action was not being sought. “We are attempting to avoid any foreign intervention, particularly military intervention” in Syria, Secretary-General Nabil Elaraby said. “We have always stressed full respect of the security, sovereignty and territorial integrity of the Syrian people.”

Qatar’s premier echoed those sentiments, suggesting the council should use economic leverage. “We are not calling for a military intervention,” Sheikh Hamad said. “We are advocating the exertion of a concrete economic pressure so that the Syrian regime might realize it is imperative to meet the demands of its people.”

Syria’s U.N. representative rejected the resolution, saying Damascus would confront its “enemies” and that Western powers yearned for “the return of colonialism and hegemony.”

“It will stand firm in confronting its enemies,” Bashar Jaafari, told the Council.

Should Russia choose to use its veto again, there is little more Council members can do except draft a non-binding statement that would need to be approved by consensus.

The opposition Syrian National Council deplored the international community’s lack of “swift action” to protect civilians “by all necessary means,” in a statement on Facebook.

Russia unexpectedly announced Monday that it had invited Syrian government and opposition representatives to talks in Moscow, an offer that was quickly dismissed by opposition groups who insist Assad must step down.

In Tehran, in his first comments on the crisis, Iran’s supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, warned against U.S. “interference” in its ally Syria’s affairs, while saying he backed reform for the Syrians. Khamenei said Iran’s stance was “to reject any interference by the U.S. and other countries ... in the internal affairs of Syria” but expressed support for “any form of reform for the people” of Syria, according to the website of Iran’s state broadcaster.

The showdown at the U.N. came amid a sharp escalation in violence on the ground. Almost 100 people, including 55 civilians, were killed Monday alone during a regime assault on the city of Homs, said the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, prompting calls for a “day of mourning and anger” by activists.

At least 22 people were killed Tuesday, all but one of them civilians, the Observatory added. The death toll could not be independently verified.

In the eastern suburbs of Damascus, the streets of Irbin were “littered with corpses” because nobody dared remove them in the face of intense fire from advancing troops, the Observatory said.

Regime forces began blowing up houses in the protest hub of Rankus, north of Damascus, said an activist, who urged the world to help civilians besieged in the town for a week.

Amid the escalating violence, U.N. chief Ban Ki-moon called for unity at the Security Council. The Council must be “united this time, speak and act in a coherent manner, reflecting the wishes of the international community and reflecting the urgent wishes and aspirations of the Syrian people, who have been yearning for freedom,” Ban said.