United Nations  (AFP) – The UN Security Council will meet at 2:30 pm (1830 GMT) Sunday in the wake of a massacre in Syria, diplomats said, as Russia put off moves by members to release a statement on the killings.

Britain and France had proposed a statement condemning the massacre in the central Syrian town of Houla where at least 92 people, many of them children, were killed on Friday and Saturday.

Diplomats said the head of the UN mission in Syria, Major General Robert Mood, would brief the Security Council meeting, which Russia had been waiting for before agreeing to a condemnation.

Syrian authorities have denied their forces carried out the killings, which have sparked an international outcry, with a spokesman blaming “terrorists” and saying a government investigation had been opened into the carnage.

The UN observer mission in Syria, deployed under a ceasefire plan crafted by former UN head Kofi Annan, warned of “civil war” following the deaths, which was one among the single most deadly incidents in the 15-month uprising against President Bashar al-Assad’s regime.

UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon joined Annan to release a statement leading a chorus of condemnation of the massacre.

“This appalling and brutal crime, involving indiscriminate and disproportionate use of force, is a flagrant violation of international law,” the pair said.

Britain said it was in urgent talks with allied countries on “a strong international response,” while France said it was making plans to host a “Friends of Syria” meeting in the wake of the latest violence.