Outside players should exert their influence on all sides of the Syrian crisis and get back to the negotiation table, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said Monday.
After meeting UN-Arab League special envoy to Syria Lakhdar Brahimi here, Lavrov told reporters that Moscow regretted the failed truce announcement during the Muslim holidays.
"We are upset that the initiative proposed by Lakhdar Brahimi about a truce during the Muslim holidays has not been heard. So our primary task currently is to make all Syrians stop shooting each other and start talks," Lavrov said.
Russia and Brahimi shared a common vision that the conflict in Syria had become a "real civil war" and the spiral of violence continued, he said.
"It is necessary that all outside players use their influence to send the same signal, not to provoke any side to continue the violence and bloodshed but to persuade them to cease fire immediately," Lavrov said.
Brahimi said the Syrian crisis was "extremely dangerous" and the situation was going from bad to worse. He condemned recent bombings in some Syrian towns, calling them "terror attacks."
Though the truce initiative failed, the Syrian people deserved support and the United Nations would make every effort to stop the violence and normalize the situation in Syria, Brahimi said.
However, the envoy said the United Nations had not considered the option of deploying international peacekeepers to Syria so far.
According to Lavrov, any UN mission to Syria would be possible only if a ceasefire was reached.
"If we all are to push for the implementation of the Geneva agreement, the first step would be to stop violence from all sides," he said.
A series of explosions have rocked Syria since the Muslim Feast of Sacrifice started last Friday.
Russia initiated a statement last week at the UN Security Council condemning the "terror attacks" and called for the member states to fight "all forms of terrorism" in accordance with the UN Charter, but it was blocked by the Council. Endi