MOSCOW. May 30 (Interfax) - Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov and his Syrian counterpart Walid al-Mualem have discussed the situation in Syria in a telephone conversation on Saturday.
"Lavrov emphasized the importance of achieving positive developments in the very near future. He reaffirmed Russia's principled opposition to the Syrian issue being raised with the United Nations Security Council," the Russian Foreign Ministry said in a statement posted on its website.
"Mualem informed about the practical steps planned by the Syrian leadership to implement the earlier announced internal political reforms in order to stabilize the domestic situation and to restore civil accord," the ministry said.
"The parties have exchanged views on the evolvement of the situation in and around Syria, including in the context of a telephone conversation between the Russian and Syrian presidents on May 24 this year and the assessments voiced at the G8 summit in Deauville," the statement said.
Russia opposes tougher economic sanctions against Syria, Russian President Dmitry Medvedev said a day earlier. "We believe that President Asad must proceed from words to deeds and conduct real democratic reforms in his country - give the voting right to the opposition, reform the electoral laws and prevent violence during opposition demonstrations. I said all this to Mr. Asad during a telephone conversation," the Russian president said.
"Sanctions are far from being the best method, given that the events around Libya have shown how efficient these sanctions can be," Medvedev said.