France has described as a "scandal" the failure of the United Nations to agree a resolution against the violent crackdowns on dissidents in Syria.
"I think it's a scandal not to have a clear position of the UN in such a terrible crisis," French Foreign Minister Alain Juppe said during a visit to Australia.
"We think that the regime has lost its legitimacy. We think that it's too late to implement a level of reform. We should adopt in New York a very clear resolution condemning the violence," Mr Juppe added.
Syrian demonstrators have called for international protection to stop civilian killings.
France, Britain, the United States, Germany and Portugal circulated a draft resolution that called for sanctions against Syrian President Bashar al-Assad and his relatives and close associates, but it met strong resistance from Russia and China.
