German Foreign Minister Frank-Walter Steinmeier will visit his Russian counterpart Sergei Lavrov for two days from Thursday to discuss issues including Ukraine's political crisis, a spokesman said.

"Ukraine is of course one of the important topics on the agenda," said the foreign ministry spokesman on Wednesday, also mentioning Iran's nuclear program, the Syrian war and bilateral as well as EU-Russian ties.

A new round of talks between Syria's warring sides dragged into a third day Wednesday amid signs that Russia aimed to play a greater role in trying to break the deadlock.

Representatives of President Bashar Assad's regime and the opposition National Coalition were holding face-to-face negotiations in Geneva, as they did Tuesday, according to the U.N.

Army chief Abdel Fattah al-Sisi, who is likely to become Egypt's next president, headed to Russia accompanied by Foreign Minister Nabil Fahmy on Wednesday to discuss bilateral cooperation, the army said.

Field Marshal Sisi, who is also Egypt's defense minister and deputy prime minister, and Fahmy would hold "2+2" talks with their Russian counterparts, army spokesman Colonel Ahmed Aly said in a statement.

Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov will meet his Gulf Arab counterparts on February 18 for talks expected to focus on the Syria conflict, a Kuwaiti official has said.

Foreign ministry undersecretary Khaled al-Jarallah said the Kuwait City talks, part of regular strategic meetings between the two sides, will discuss topics including the Syrian issue, the official KUNA news agency reported overnight Tuesday.

The Iranian and Russian embassies in Beirut went on high alert after obtaining information that extremist groups are plotting to target them, al-Joumhouria newspaper reported on Wednesday.

According to the daily, the two embassies started taking extra ordinary security measures and called for a back up from the Lebanese army.

U.S. President Barack Obama warned Tuesday that Russia would be to blame for keeping aid from desperate Syrian civilians if it blocked a U.N. resolution designed to lift the siege of Homs.

Obama also heaped pressure on the Kremlin as U.S. concern grows about the pace of Syrian compliance with a deal to hand over its chemical weapons stocks for destruction.

The first of four U.S. high-tech destroyers arrived in Spain Tuesday to form a key part of a ballistic missile shield for Europe which Russia says directly threatens its security.

The USS Donald Cook took up station in the southern port of Rota from where it will operate as an anti-missile platform and take part in other tasks such as maritime security and NATO deployments, a statement said.

Activists took to a piano perched on Kiev's most famous anti-government barricade Monday, playing Chopin, the national anthem and the Beatles' "Let it Be" as riot police looked on.

Eurovision song contest winner Ruslana joined others in gently stroking the instrument -- painted in the blue and yellow colours of the Ukrainian flag -- as it sat delicately poised on a barrier separating protesters from police.

A former U.S. soldier was sentenced to 30 years in jail Monday for trying to spy on behalf of Russia, the U.S. Justice Department said.

In September and October 2012, Robert Hoffman II, now 40, a 20-year veteran of the U.S. Navy, turned over classified defense information to FBI agents he believed were Russian, according to Virginia prosecutors.

U.N. diplomats resumed the task of trying to persuade Russia to back a new humanitarian resolution on Syria on Monday, after earlier efforts met with a firm refusal.

A draft text of the non-binding resolution, seen by Agence France Presse, was drafted by Australia, Jordan and Luxembourg and it "demands that all parties, in particular the Syrian authorities, immediately end the sieges of the Old City of Homs," as well as in Aleppo, Damascus and other cities.