Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov and UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon have stressed the necessity of stopping violence as soon as possible by all parties of the conflict in Syria, the Russian Foreign Ministry reported on Tuesday commenting on the results of a meeting between the Russian Foreign Minister and the UN Secretary General held in New York on Monday on the sidelines of a ministerial session of the UN Security Council on the situation in the Middle East.

The sides “had a frank talk on the situation in Syria, including in the context of a mission of UN and LAS special envoy on Syria Kofi Annan and UN Assistant Secretary General on humanitarian issues Valerie Amos to this country,” the ministry’s spokesman said.

The interlocutors “expressed common opinion on the necessity of stopping violence as soon as possible by all parties of the conflict, launching a comprehensive dialogue on a wide political basis and preventing external interference,” the source stressed. “The minister supported the UN efforts to correct the humanitarian situation in the country.”

“The Russian side expressed serious concern about persisting instability in Libya, including the risks of proliferation of weapons and the necessity of investigating all cases in the sphere of human rights observation,” the ministry’s spokesman said.