Russia on Tuesday announced that Syrian Foreign Minister Walid Muallem would visit Moscow next week for talks aimed at finding a way out of the two-year Syria conflict.

Deputy Foreign Minister Gennady Gatilov said Muallem would be in Moscow on February 25 "to discuss the Syria crisis and measures aimed at beginning dialogue" with the opposition.

Peace envoy Lakhdar Brahimi on Saturday pressed Damascus for a truce to break the cycle of bloodshed, as Lebanon's opposition blamed President Bashar Assad for a deadly Beirut bombing.

But even as Brahimi went into a meeting with Foreign Minister Walid Muallem in Damascus, fighting raged on northern battlefields, where regime jets resumed bombarding the key town of Maaret al-Numan which rebels captured on October 9.

International peace envoy Lakhdar Brahimi, who is trying to secure a truce in Syria for the Muslim holiday of Eid al-Adha, will arrive in Damascus on Saturday, the Foreign Ministry said.

"Brahimi will meet with Foreign Minister Walid Muallem on Saturday morning," ministry spokesman Jihad Maqdisi told AFP.

Prime Minister Najib Miqati did not hold talks in New York with Syrian Foreign Minister Walid al-Muallem, reported al-Joumhouria on Thursday.

Al-Liwaa newspaper had reported on Wednesday that the two officials had met during their visit to New York to attend the United Nations General Assembly.

Prime Minister Najib Miqati held talks with New York City with Syrian Foreign Minister Walid al-Muallem, reported al-Liwaa newspaper on Wednesday.

A diplomatic source told the newspaper that the Syrian official lamented to the premier the Lebanese government's failure to provide the Syrian regime with support during its crisis.

U.N. chief Ban Ki-moon called Monday on the Syrian government to show "compassion" to its people in the midst of an increasingly vicious civil war against armed rebels.

Ban said after a meeting with the Syrian foreign minister at U.N. headquarters in New York that it was time for Damascus to lower the scale of its offensive against the insurgency.

Foreign Minister Adnan Mansour held talks with his Syrian counterpart Walid al-Muallem on the margins of their participation at the United Nations General Assembly earlier this week, reported the National News Agency Saturday.

The discussions addressed the latest developments in Syria and the ongoing efforts to resolve the crisis.

President Michel Suleiman stressed on Saturday that he will not retract his stance concerning ex-Minister Michel Samaha’s case, pointing out that he informed the Syrian authorities his position in Tehran.

“Syrian Foreign Minister Walid al-Muallem requested our meeting in Tehran, and I thank him for his initiative,” Suleiman said during the opening ceremony of Amchit fishing port.

President Michel Suleiman met with Syrian Prime Minister Wael Nader al-Halqi and Foreign Minister Walid al-Muallem on the sidelines of the Non-Aligned Movement summit in Tehran last week, al-Akhbar newspaper reported on Friday.

The daily said that the Syrian officials gave explanations to Suleiman on the case of former Minister Michel Samaha who was arrested last month on charges of plotting to carry out bombings in Lebanon with Syrian help.

Syrian renewed on Sunday its demand to Lebanon to prevent the infiltration of “terrorist groups” from its territories into its own.

Foreign Minister Walid al-Muallem stated: “We hope Lebanon would help thwart the infiltration, which will benefit it and Syria.”