DAMASCUS - Russia's Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov arrived in Damascus on Wednesday for talks with Syrian leaders on Middle East peace efforts, Russian diplomats said.
Lavrov held talks with his Syrian counterpart Walid Muallem shortly after arrival and is due to meet President Bashar al-Assad on Thursday, the sources said.
"The problems of the Middle East, particularly Lebanon and the possibility of holding a (Middle East) peace meeting in Moscow" focused on the Syrian-Israeli track are to be discussed, Russian embassy spokesman Andrei Zaitsew told AFP.
Lavrov will also meet with officials of the Palestinian Islamist movement Hamas which rules Gaza, in particular its political supremo Khaled Meshaal who lives in exile in Syria, Zaitsew added.
Peace negotiations between Israel and the Palestinians were kickstarted last November at a US-brokered conference in Annapolis, near Washington after a seven-year hiatus.
Palestinian president Mahmud Abbas and Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert agreed to aim -- as urged by the US administration -- for a comprehensive Middle East peace deal by the end of this year.
Russia has said it aims to hold a follow-up to the Annapolis talks and has opened consultations with officials from the Palestinian Authority, Israel, the Arab League, European Union, United Nations and United States.
Lavrov is to travel on to Israel on Thursday and also visit the Palestinian territories.
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03/19/2008 17:24 GMT