MOSCOW, February 8 (Itar-Tass) — Russian President Dmitry Medvedev had a telephone conversation with his French counterpart Nicolas Sarkozy to inform the latter of the results of the talks Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov and director of the Foreign Intelligence Service Mikhail Frakdov had with Syrian President Bashar Assad in Damascus on February 7, the Kremlin press service reported on Wednesday.
The conversation was initiated by the French side. The two presidents discussed the situation in and around Syria.
It was declared in the Syrian capital that Moscow is ready to continue its mediatory efforts and thinks it inadmissible to continue the bloodshed, the press service said.
The French president was informed about Russia’s efforts to put an end to any violence in Syria through a comprehensive dialogue between the conflicting parties and to promote democraftic reforms in that country.
The Russian president called on partners to avoid hasty unilateral steps and stressed that the position of the international community must be unbiased and well-balanced.
On February 4, Russia and China vetoed a United Nations Security Council resolution on Syria that was proposed by a number of Western and Arab countries.
The two president also discussed a number of aspects of bilateral relations in priority areas of trade and economic, research and humanitarian cooperation.