Russia warns West against meddling in Syria

Russia today warned against outside interference in Syria, as Britain and France expressed strong doubt Damascus would live up to promises to end its violent repression of dissidents.

Meanwhile, UN rights chief Navi Pillay called for urgent action to protect Syrian civilians caught in 11 months of civil strife while the European Union made contingency plans in case it needed to evacuate its citizens from Syria. Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin warned the West against behaving "like a bull in a china shop", saying Syrians themselves should be allowed to decide their own fate.

"Of course we condemn violence from whichever side it comes, but we must not behave like a bull in a china shop. We need to allow people to decide their own fate independently," Russian news agencies quoted him as saying.

Moscow sparked Western anger last week by joining Beijing in using its veto at the Security Council to block UN action against the Damascus regime following its latest military offensive on protesters in the city of Homs.

Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov today pointedly sidestepped a question from a reporter who asked him whether Russia had asked Bashar al-Assad to go in his talks with the Syrian president the day before.

He too said the Syrian people themselves must decide their fate, while calling for Syrian opposition forces to enter into negotiations with Assad's government to reach a solution to the conflict acceptable to all.

Turkey has offered to hold an international conference "as soon as possible" with regional players and world powers to solve the crisis, its foreign minister said today.