The United States endorsed Wednesday the Arab League's proposal to invoke the United Nations' tough Chapter VII sanctions against the Syrian regime.

But Washington held off from supporting Chapter VII's powers to initiate a military intervention and focused on economic sanctions against Syrian President Bashar Assad's embattled government.

Western nations on Wednesday demanded increased pressure on Syria amid heightened outrage over two massacres in five days, but Russia maintained its opposition to sanctions.

The United States, France, Britain and Germany all came out of a U.N. Security Council meeting on the worsening crisis urging measures up to sanctions by the 15-nation body.

Russia said on Wednesday it was "premature" for the U.N. Security Council to take new action on Syria after the massacre of 108 civilians in the city of Houla.

"We believe that a review now by the Security Council of any new measures on the situation would be premature," Deputy Foreign Minister Gennady Gatilov told the Interfax news agency.

The U.N. Security Council has reached a tentative accord on a resolution to send a 300-strong ceasefire observer force to Syria which could be voted Saturday.

Russia's U.N. ambassador called for a "unanimous vote" on the text his country took a leading role in drawing up.

Russia, China and India on Friday jointly called all parties in the standoff over North Korea to show restraint after the reclusive state's failed rocket launch sparked global concern.

"We are convinced that the reaction to these challenges needs to be exclusively diplomatic and political," Lavrov said alongside his Chinese and Indian counterparts after a meeting in Moscow.

Lebanon can file a complaint with the U.N. Security Council against Syria over the killing of Lebanese cameramen Ali Shaaban, diplomatic sources said Wednesday.

The sources told al-Mustaqbal daily however that the problem lies in the lack of a political decision to file such a complaint.

U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton said Tuesday she would tell Russia that the risk of civil war was rising in Syria, adding that she expected "rough" diplomacy ahead.

Clinton said she would raise the Syria crisis when she meets Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov in talks among foreign ministers of the Group of Eight major economies starting in Washington on Wednesday.

Phalange Party leader Amine Gemayel expressed fear on Monday that the Syrian turmoil might spill into Lebanon over the sharp differences between parties on their stances from the regime.

“Lebanon should disassociate itself from the developments in Syria,” he told reporters.

Two days ahead of a U.N. deadline for Syria's military to halt fire, neither regime forces nor the rebels appeared ready on Sunday to compromise after a deadly day that saw nearly 130 people killed.

The main opposition umbrella group the Syrian National Council called for U.N. intervention after monitoring groups said 86 of those killed on Saturday were civilians.

U.N. leader Ban Ki-moon said Friday that increased attacks by government forces on Syrian cities "violate" the U.N. Security Council's demand for an end to hostilities.

The U.N. secretary general strongly condemned new violence and indicated he believes President Bashar Assad is using an April 10 deadline to pull troops and heavy weapons away from cities as "an excuse" to step up killing.