MOSCOW, Sept. 18 (Xinhua) -- Outside players should encourage all sides in the Syrian crisis to lay down their arms, Russian Foreign Ministry said Tuesday.
Moscow expressed its regret that some Western countries acted in the opposite direction, assisting one of the sides in the conflict, said the ministry in a statement.
"Thus they encourage the opposition to forceful solution and further confrontation with the authorities," said the ministry.
Russia also expressed doubt in Western countries' affirmations that the Syrian crisis would not be resolved in Libya-style by outside military intervention.
"If the intervention has really been ruled out, it must be proved by focusing on the facilitation of peaceful transition to political settlement. It is important that the influential outside players need to encourage the conflict's sides to lay down arms and start negotiations," the statement said, adding that Moscow has been ready for a joint work.
Meanwhile, Russia believed the sooner end of violence in Syria would be facilitated "by the UN Security Council's approval of Geneva communique adopted by the action group."
In July, Russia and China vetoed a Western-proposed UN draft resolution, which threatens non-military sanctions by quoting Chapter VII of the UN Charter if the Syria government failed to pull out troops and heavy weapons from populated areas.
On Tuesday, the UN Independent International Commission of Inquiry on Syria confirmed the increasing presence of foreign elements in the country. UN investigators say some have joined rebel groups, while others are operating independently.
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