The United States said that President Assad used the speech to try to "deflect the attention" of his people from his commitment to end his violent crackdown.
"He's doing everything but what he needs to do," US State Department spokeswoman Victoria Nuland said in Washington.
News that makes sense
Your trusted source for staying up-to-date with the world around you. Get free daily news updates and analysis, straight to your inbox.
HE MUST MEET COMMITMENTS: US
She said he must meet the commitments Syria made to the Arab League to end the violence, withdraw heavy weapons from cities, admit journalists, free political prisoners and allow for a real political dialogue.
"So that's what we're looking to see in Syria, and obviously this was an effort to deflect the attention of his own people from the real problem," Nuland told reporters.
"Throughout the course of this speech, Assad manages to blame a foreign conspiracy that's so vast with regard to the situation in Syria that it now includes the Arab League, most of the Syrian opposition, the entire international community," Nuland said.
"He throws responsibility on everybody but back on himself," she said.
"And with regard to his own responsibility for the violence in Syria, he seems to aggressively deny any responsibility or any hand in the role of his own security forces," she added.
ASSAD IS 'DIVORCED FROM REALITY'
French Foreign Minister Alain Juppe said Assad was divorced from reality and accused him of inciting violence in the country.
"It is a speech at odds with what one might expect. It incites violence and confrontation between the parties. It's a sort of denial of reality," Juppe said.
He also said that France "vigorously condemns" the attacks on Arab League observers in Syria and called on Assad's regime to ensure that it protects them.
The United Nations said Tuesday that 400 people had been killed in Syria since the Arab League launched a monitoring mission on December 26, and 40 people are being killed each day.
Arab League chief Nabil al-Arabi said some observers were the victim of "violent attacks carried out by pro-regime elements in Latakia and Deir Ezzor, and from elements considered to be members of the opposition in other areas."
Kuwait said two of its army officers who are part of the mission in Syria were slightly hurt on Monday by "unidentified protesters", the first such incident of its kind.
In the speech just hours before the UN Security Council began discussions on Syria, Assad denied security forces had orders to fire on civilian protesters, even as activists reported regime gunmen killed 13 more civilians.
Assad said the unrest, which the United Nations estimated last month has cost more than 5,000 lives since March, would only come to an end "when the flow of funds and weapons coming from abroad stops."
Assad insisted security personnel had no orders to shoot, saying, "By law, nobody can open fire, except in self-defense."
