UNITED NATIONS — The U.N. Security Council failed to take action to defuse tensions between North and South Korea on Sunday and diplomats blamed China for refusing to condemn the North for two deadly attacks this year that helped send relations to their lowest point in decades.

At the end of an emergency meeting called by Russia that lasted eight hours, U.S. Ambassador Susan Rice said the vast majority of the 15-member council was insisting on "a clear-cut condemnation" of North Korea but there was no unanimity.

Although diplomats from some countries still need to consult their capitals, Rice said "I think it's safe to predict that the gaps that remain are unlikely to be bridged."

Russia's U.N. Ambassador Vitaly Churkin agreed that "we were not successful in bridging all the bridges," but he expressed hope that continued diplomatic contacts "will result in a successful conclusion."

The council meeting took place as South Korea's military prepared to conduct one-day, live-fire drills by Tuesday on the same front-line island the North shelled last month as the South conducted a similar exercise.

China and Russia, the countries with the closest ties to North Korea, have called on South Korea to cancel the exercise, but the United States, a staunch ally of South Korea, has defended the country's right to train for self-defense — a point reiterated by Rice who said the two North Korean attacks made such training more important.

North Korea has warned of a "catastrophe" if South Korea goes ahead with the drills. The reclusive communist government in Pyongyang said it would strike back harder than it did on Nov. 23, when two South Korean marines and two civilians were killed on Yeonpyeong Island.

Russian Ambassador Churkin said Moscow called the emergency council meeting because it wanted the U.N.'s most powerful body to send a message of restraint to both Koreas and to launch a new diplomatic initiative to try to reduce tensions and restart negotiations.

Russia borders North Korea so the escalating tensions are not only "of grave concern" to Moscow but pose "serious security issues" for the country, he said.