Top European Union Diplomat comments follow days of intense violence in Myanmar, with clashes across the country leaving scores dead.

Russia and Communist China are thwarting the international response to the Myanmar crisis, a top European Union diplomat said Sunday, as the death toll from a military crackdown climbed past 1,000.

Myanmar has been in turmoil since the military removed civilian leader Ms. Aung San Suu Kyi from power on February 1.

International efforts to stem the violence have so far failed to yield results, with EU foreign policy chief Josep Borrell saying Sunday it was no surprise that Russia and Communist China were blocking efforts at the UN Security Council to impose an arms embargo.

Geopolitical competition in Myanmar will make it very difficult to find common ground, as we have witnessed again and again... but we have a duty to try, he wrote in a blog post.

"The Myanmar military is used to international isolation and has a decade-long record of ignoring the needs and the will of the country's citizens"

Europe had become a major export market for Myanmar's garment industry in recent years, he said, suggesting the EU could offer to increase economic ties and investments if the country returns to a path of democracy.

The Myanmar military is used to international isolation and has a decade-long record of ignoring the needs and the will of the country's citizens, he said.

Mr. Borrell's comments follow days of intense violence in Myanmar, with clashes across the country leaving scores dead.

The weekend saw a steady stream of mourners turn out to pay tribute to loved ones gunned down in the southern city of Bago, where security forces killed at least 82 anti-coup protesters in a brutal crackdown, according to a local monitoring group.

The true number killed may never be known - there are reports security forces took away some bodies.

Mr. Ko Thi Ha, 30, a Bago charity worker and eldest of six siblings, was among those fatally wounded.

He was shot trying to escape soldiers by climbing over a brick wall with two others.

The army shouted at him not to run, but he was afraid the army would shoot him if he didn't run, his friend told French journalists.

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