­The United Nations General Assembly has approved a resolution on the Syrian crisis, with 133 votes in favor, 12 against and 31 abstentions

Twelve countries, Russia among them, voted against, while 31 abstained. The document includes criticism of the Security Council for not facilitating an end to the violence in the country.

The resolution also condemns Syrian President Bashar al-Assad for using heavy artillery, helicopters and planes for a crackdown in Damascus. The draft of the document was submitted by Arab countries.

General Assembly resolutions are not enforceable but can carry moral weight.

The resolution says "the first step in the cessation of violence has to be made by the Syrian authorities".

The resolution's Arab sponsors had earlier diluted two key provisions: a demand that President Assad resign and a call for other countries to impose sanctions on Syria.

Russia and China had objected to those provisions.

The Associated Press says the vote was meant in part to pressure the security council to act, but frustration over the lack of action so far was clear.

Before the vote, UN secretary-general Ban Ki-moon reminded the assembly of the fresh violence in the city of Aleppo and drew comparisons between the failure to act in Syria to past genocide in Srebrenica and Rwanda.