Washington, Aug 3 (ANI): The Obama administration has blamed Russia and China or the failure of Kofi Annan's peace mission in Syria.

The White House's remarks came as Annan formally announced on Thursday that he would step down as special envoy to Syria at the end of the month.

His resignation highlights the failure in the United Nations Security Council of Russian and China to support meaningful resolutions against Assad that would have held Assad accountable for his failure to abide by the Annan plan, White House press secretary Jay Carney said.

Those vetoes ... were highly regrettable and placed both Russia and China on the wrong side of history and the wrong side of the Syrian people, he added.

According to Politico, Annan singled out US President Barack Obama and Russian President Valdimir Putin by name and said a solution would require 'courage and leadership' from them.

Syria can still be saved from the worst calamity, Annan wrote in an op-ed in The Financial Times.

But this requires courage and leadership, most of all from the permanent members of the Security Council, including from Presidents Putin and Obama. Is ours an international community that will act in defence of the most vulnerable of our world, and make the necessary sacrifices to help? The coming weeks in Syria will tell, he added.

According to the report, Carney also said 'the president is grateful for Annan's willingness to serve in this capacity and the efforts he made to achieve peace in Syria and a peaceful transition from the Assad regime.' (ANI)