Russia on Friday accused the United States of double standards on Syria in blocking a U.N. Security Council condemnation of a bomb attack in the Syrian capital that killed at least 53 people.

The car bomb on Thursday on a busy highway in Damascus also damaged nearby Russian embassy buildings.

"Nearly all members of the United Nations Security Council supported the Russian suggestion on the attack, which claimed dozens of lives and injured more in Damascus," Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov told reporters.

"The draft was not passed due to U.S. objection," Lavrov said, adding it was not the first time that Washington opposed to condemn terror attacks without preconditions.

The 15-member council discussed a statement proposed by Russia but the United States and other Western members had wanted to include criticism of Syrian government forces for attacking civilians, U.N. diplomats said.

"Deliberately or implicitly, our U.S. colleagues intend to stand beside the Syrian opposition," said Lavrov. "We are disappointed."

Lavrov noted that Moscow did not hesitate to condemn the attack on the U.S. diplomatic mission last year in Benghazi, Libya, which led to the death of U.S. Ambassador Christopher Stevens.

"We did not attach any connection between the condemnation with our overall attitude to Libya," he said. However, the United States suggested "balanced condemnations" toward what had happened in Syria, "which goes against the international rules and is very dangerous," he said.

Lavrov said Moscow would look into the specific circumstances around the U.S. rejection, urging Washington to abandon its double standards on the Syria issue.

The 23-month Syrian conflict has left more than 70,000 people dead, according to the United Nations.