Both official media and an opposition group on Sunday branded as a failure a world powers deal on a transition plan for Syria a day after at least 120 people were reported killed in violence nationwide.

World powers meeting in Geneva on Saturday agreed a transition plan that could include current regime members, but the West did not see any role for President Bashar Assad in a new unity government.

Both official media and an opposition group on Sunday branded as a failure a world powers deal on a transition plan for Syria a day after more than 80 people were reported killed in violence nationwide.

World powers meeting in Geneva on Saturday agreed a transition plan that could include current regime members, but the West did not see any role for President Bashar Assad in a new unity government.

Russia will offer to host the next round of international talks on the Syria crisis if some progress is made in Geneva on Saturday, Russian news agencies reported.

"Russia will propose holding such a meeting in Moscow," the Russian source close to the ongoing negotiations in Geneva was quoted as saying by Interfax.

Russia on Friday called the upcoming Geneva talks on Syria a "positive step" despite fears that the meeting might not go ahead because of disagreements and Moscow's anger at the absence of Iran.

"On the whole, we view the upcoming meeting in Geneva as a positive step in a search for a way to broaden and strengthen the basis of an international consensus," the Russian foreign ministry said in reference to Saturday's meeting.

Russia said Thursday it backed a political transition in Syria but rejected Western pressure to call for the exit of President Bashar Assad, ahead of international talks on ending the spiraling conflict.

Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov poured cold water on hopes that world powers have already agreed a common strategy ahead of the weekend talks in Geneva, saying Moscow was opposed to any solution imposed from abroad.

Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov has agreed to attend an international meeting on the Syria conflict in Geneva on Saturday, Russia's U.N. envoy said Tuesday.

U.N.-Arab League envoy Kofi Annan wants to hold the meeting of the major powers in Geneva in a final bid to get agreement on a political transition plan for Syria.

Russia on Tuesday said its regional ally Syria's downing of a Turkish jet should not be viewed as a provocation and urged all nations to tone down their rhetoric over the incident.

"We believe it is important that the incident is not viewed as a provocation or an intentional action, and that it does not lead to destabilizing the situation," the foreign ministry said in its first comment on Friday's Phantom 4 jet downing.

A boat with two Japanese and two Russian nationals on board has been seized by Russia's border guard near the disputed Kuril islands, a news report said Tuesday.

Russia has informed the Japanese foreign ministry about the capture off the Kurils, which are claimed by both countries and are officially known as the Northern Territories in Japan, Japan's public broadcaster NHK said.

Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas on Tuesday urged Russian President Vladimir Putin to help unblock long-stalled negotiations between Israel and the Palestinians.

Putin met with Abbas during a stop in Bethlehem on a brief trip to the West Bank, a day after a stop in Israel where he met Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and President Shimon Peres.

The U.N. expert tasked with investigating human rights abuses in Syria has finally managed to enter the country, the U.N. said on Tuesday.

Speaking to reporters at a press conference in Geneva, U.N. spokeswoman Corinne Momal-Vanian confirmed that Paolo Sergio Pinheiro had visited Syria, confirming recent media reports.