Ahead of going into a scheduled meeting with President Dmitry Medvedev, visiting international envoy Kofi Annan has discussed the Syrian situation with Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov, The Voice of Russia reports.
The Kremlin said Saturday that Syria cannot be returned to normality as long as the armed Syrian opposition continues to reject talks and receive political and military support from abroad.
Peace envoy Kofi Annan sought to shore up support from Moscow on Sunday for his efforts to end a year of fighting in Syria where 8,000 people have been killed in an anti-government uprising.
Western and Arab states want Syrian President Bashar al-Assad to stand down but Russia, Syria's long-time ally, says the armed rebels must also cease fire and withdraw their forces.
In a statement ahead of the meeting, the Kremlin said it would be hard to enforce a halt to the violence "until external armed and political support of the opposition is terminated".
