The US has said it holds Russia responsible for a deadly attack on an aid convoy near the Syrian city of Aleppo on Monday.
The White House has called the incident an "enormous humanitarian tragedy".
Meanwhile, US officials have told the BBC that two Russian war planes were responsible for the attack.
But Russia strongly denies involvement of its own or Syrian planes, and says the incident was caused by fire on the ground and not by an air strike.
Earlier, the UN chief Ban Ki-moon launched a stinging attack on Syria's government, saying it has killed the most civilians in the five-year civil war.
In his final address to the UN General Assembly, Mr Ban also said those who supported the opposing sides in the conflict had "blood on their hands".
It came as the UN suspended all aid convoys in Syria after the deadly attack near Aleppo, and as diplomats in New York were trying to save a week-old truce agreement.
US Secretary of State John Kerry, speaking alongside his Russian counterpart Sergei Lavrov, insisted the cessation of hostilities deal was "not dead", following talks with delegates of the Syria Support Group. They are to meet again on Friday.
Using unusually blunt language, outgoing UN Secretary General Mr Ban told the General Assembly: "Many groups have killed many innocents, but none more so than the government of Syria which continues to barrel bomb neighbourhoods and systematically torture thousands of detainees."
He said other countries "that keep feeding the war machine also have blood on their hands".
Mr Ban called the attack on the aid convoy "sickening, savage and apparently deliberate" and called for those responsible to be held to account.
Syria responded by accusing Mr Ban of flouting the UN charter.
"The words of Ban Ki-moon today on Syria are far removed from the provisions of the UN charter, which need to be respected by (the person) who occupies the role of secretary general," a foreign ministry statement said.
It said the UN had "failed in its role" to find solutions to international conflicts.
The cessation agreement brokered by the US and Russia appeared to have collapsed on Monday when the Syrian military declared it over, citing repeated violations by rebel groups.
Shortly afterwards, air strikes were reported on rebel-held areas of the city of Aleppo and a large aid convoy near the city was attacked and largely destroyed.
Witnesses say the attack at Urum al-Kubra came from the air but exactly what happened is still in dispute.
Eighteen of 31 lorries were destroyed and about 20 civilians were killed including a senior official of the Syrian Arab Red Crescent.
Russia, Syria and the US-led coalition have all insisted that their forces were not involved. The US expressed "outrage" over the attack.
Russian defence ministry spokesman Igor Konashenkov said that after studying video taken at the scene they "did not find any signs of munitions hitting the convoy".
"Everything shown in the video is the direct result of a fire which mysteriously began at the same time as a large-scale rebel attack on Aleppo," he said.
The UN would not confirm what type of attack took place, saying "we are not in a position to determine whether these were in fact air strikes".
A media activist who witnessed the attack told BBC Arabic that Russian reconnaissance planes had been spotted, apparently filming the passage of the convoy.
He said the first strike came at about 19:00 local time on Monday, when a helicopter dropped several barrel bombs. This was followed by rocket and machine-gun fire from aircraft, he said.
A UN spokesman said earlier that the convoy had received proper permits, and all warring parties - including Russia and the US - had been notified.
Aid deliveries to besieged areas had been a key part of the cessation of hostilities deal brokered last week.
The president of the International Committee of the Red Cross, Peter Maurer, denounced the attack as a "flagrant violation of international humanitarian law" and said it could amount to a war crime.
The Syrian military and rebels have accused each other of widespread violations of the ceasefire deal.
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