The pro-regime Al-Watan daily accused the Saudi authorities on Monday of "plotting" against Syria, and also of turning Lebanon into a springboard for attacking the country.

The newspaper accused Saudi Foreign Minister Prince Saud al-Faisal of "sending arms to fighters and mercenaries they are financing in north Lebanon," where weekend clashes between pro- and anti-Damascus factions left 14 dead.

President Vladimir Putin met European Union leaders Monday for summit talks where the EU is expected to put pressure on Russia to harden its position on the Syria and Iran crises.

Putin on Sunday evening met EU President Herman Van Rompuy and the President of the European Commission, Jose Manuel Barroso, for an informal dinner in the northwestern city of Saint Petersburg.

Clashes erupted between regime forces and rebels in Syria's Idlib province overnight, killing two opposition fighters, as explosions were reported in Damascus province, a watchdog said on Monday.

Two rebels were killed as they clashed with regime forces in the town of Kafr Nabal in the northwestern province of Idlib, the Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said.

U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton urged Russia Sunday to get behind a political transition in Syria, saying President Bashar Assad's departure was not a precondition but should be "an outcome".

Clinton spoke to Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov by telephone at the weekend to say that Washington and Moscow needed to work together on a plan that would halt the violence and bring about political change in the country.

German Foreign Minister Guido Westerwelle will visit Syria's neighbors this week in a bid to help stop the bloody strife threatening regional stability, a spokeswoman said Sunday.

Westerwelle will leave Monday on a tour that will take in Turkey and Lebanon as well as Qatar and the United Arab Emirates, the foreign ministry spokeswoman told Agence France Presse, without giving a detailed itinerary.

Syrian authorities on Sunday released two Lebanese citizens abducted by Syrian forces on Wednesday from the northern border town of al-Abboudiyeh.

The abduction led to an uproar in the region and prompted residents to block the international highway.

Progressive Socialist Party leader MP Walid Jumblat has stressed that only dialogue can prevent a spillover of the Syrian crisis into Lebanon, saying the Lebanese have two options: “entering the Syrian inferno or organizing their disputes.”

During a meeting with Lebanese expats on Saturday in Kuwait, Jumblat described the latest clashes in Tripoli as “very dangerous,” urging Lebanese leaders to avoid a crisis in the key northern city.

U.N. chief Ban Ki-moon called on Sunday for broad international talks on the rising Syrian crisis, urging Security Council members to consider Arab League demands for stronger U.N. action in the strife-torn country.

"Our priority at this time is to help the Syrian people...I want to welcome a wider international discussion on the future course of actions," Ban told reporters after a meeting with Organization of Islamic Conference chief, Ekmeleddin Ihsanoglu, in the Saudi port city of Jeddah.

Saudi Foreign Minister Saud al-Faisal accused Syria's President Bashar Assad of "maneuvering" to gain time, at a joint news conference Sunday with U.N. chief Ban Ki-moon.

"Every initiative has been accepted by the Syrian regime and was not implemented. This is a way used by the regime to gain time," Prince Saud told reporters in the Red Sea city of Jeddah.

President Bashar Assad said Sunday that his government faces a foreign plot to destroy Syria, and blamed "monsters" for the Houla massacre, in a rare televised speech delivered in parliament.

Assad's accusations came as Arab leaders called on the United Nations to act to stop bloodshed in Syria and France raised the prospect of military action against Damascus under a U.N. mandate.