PARIS, May 31 (Itar-Tass) —— Russia and France have agreed to exert efforts for the sake of resolving the Syrian issue by a military and diplomatic way, Russian President Vladimir Putin told a joint news conference with his French counterpart Francois Hollande following bilateral negotiations at the Champs Elysee palace on Friday.

“We agreed to take steps towards a political solution of the problem,” Putin said. “It is most important to prevent a rerun of the Libyan scenario and a civil war.”

The Russian president said that Kofi Annan “is a very honest and decent gentleman and it is a mistake to declare that his mission is doomed to fail.

About sanctions Putin said that “they sometimes do not work and must be taken by the UN Security Council anyway.”