MOSCOW. Feb 22 (Interfax) - Moscow has condemned a bomb attack in the center of Damascus on Thursday that is believed to have claimed at least 35 lives and inflicted injuries on more than 230 people.
"This act of terrorism is resolutely condemned in Moscow," Foreign Ministry spokesman Alexander Lukashevich said in a statement.
"Once again, we urge all nations and forces that have influence on extremists and radicals in Syria to strictly demand that they immediately cease terrorist attacks of this kind, and armed violence in general, in order to create appropriate conditions for a wide-scale inter-Syrian dialogue on the basis of the Action Group's Geneva communique of June 30, 2012," Lukashevich said.
The attack took place not far from the Russian Embassy and the headquarters of the ruling Baath party.
The explosion blew out window panes and damaged window frames and doors in the embassy's office and residential buildings, but "none of the embassy personnel or members of their families were hurt," Lukashevich said.