Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov stressed Tuesday his country's keenness to continue efforts to solve the Syrian crisis with the Syrian leadership, as the international community ramped up pressures on Syria by withdrawing diplomat missions.

After a three-hour meeting with Assad, Lavrov said the meeting was "important," in which he voiced his country's readiness to help Syria to get out of the current unrest in accordance with the Arab League (AL) initiative, according to official SANA news agency.

Lavrov said that Syria needs peace and that a national reconciliation should be achieved away from foreign interference.

Russia's top diplomat said that Assad has stressed commitment to bring the simmering violence in the country to a close " whatever its source might be."

He said that Assad also showed keenness to work with Arab observers "to be deployed in all demanded spots in order to be sure of the violations and breaches."

He added that he had told AL Secretary General Nabil al-Arabi in a phone call on Monday that Russia believes that it is necessary to preserve and expand the AL observer mission.

Lavrov also underscored the importance of launching a national dialogue combining the government and the opposition with the assistance of the AL.

"President al-Assad affirmed today that the committee which was formed to carry out dialogue with all opposition groups under the chairmanship of Syria's Vice President Faruq al-Sara'a still enjoys all the necessary authority to carry out this dialogue... It must be assisted by those who can, including those who reject dialogue up until now," he said.

Lavrov said that he delivered the content of the letter sent by Russian President Dmitry Medvedev regarding the need to expedite political reforms and undertake constitutional reform.

Lavrov said that Assad affirmed that he would meet the committee tasked with preparing a new constitution as soon as possible and that a referendum on it would be held after its official presentation, and afterwards general elections would be held with the participation of the parties formed as per the new political parties law.

He said Russia is coordinating efforts with Syria and the AL, and will continue working with opposition groups.

"We are certainly against the killing of civilians and we believe that the region is in need of peace... Syria also needs peace and all foreign powers should help to launch a national dialogue to achieve national reconciliation away from foreign interference," he said.

Lavrov set foot in the Syrian capital of Damascus Tuesday along with Russia's Foreign Intelligence Service Director Mikhail Fradkov for talks with Assad on ways of accelerating steps of reforms in the country that has witnessed a dramatic surge in violence over the past few days.

Meanwhile, Syrian observers and analysts said that the current visit of Russia's Foreign Minister Lavrov to Syria carries "a dialogue project" to the Syrian leadership, stressing that the visit would be conducive in pushing forward the process of reform.

George Gabbour, an ex-parliamentarian, said the visit has an " exceptional importance" amid the progressive developments in the political landscape of Syria.

"The visit carries, in the first place, a dialogue project," he told Xinhua, adding that Russia knows that foreign intervention in Syria's affairs would further complicate the situation.

Khalaf Muftah, a political analyst, told Xinhua that the visit comes as part of intensive diplomatic efforts to solve the months- long crisis in Syria. "The visit would push the Syrian leadership to accelerate the process of reforms," he said.

Ahead of Lavrov's visit, a Syrian Interior Ministry statement said Syria is determined to pursue what it called "armed groups" it blames for committing massacres, intimidating people and smashing public and private institutions.

The statement stressed that a government's crackdown on those gunmen in the flashpoint central city of Homs has led to the killing of a big number of them and some others have turned themselves over to specialized authorities.

Russia and China on Saturday vetoed an Arab-European draft resolution that backs an AL plan to promote a regime change in Syria. Russia said the draft contains imposition of conditions on the dialogue and called for measures to influence not only the government but also armed groups.

On the eve of his visit to Syria, Lavrov condemned the angry Western reaction to its veto as "hysteric" and emphasized his country's fixed position towards the situation in Syria. He defended his country's veto and said the draft resolution put too little pressure on the opposition and "armed extremists" Russia says must share blame for bloodshed.

Meanwhile, French foreign ministry spokesman said Tuesday that France decided to recall its ambassador from Syria for consultations. France's decision came after the United States, Britain and Italy had taken similar moves.

France has started discussions with its partners in the European Union about further sanctions against Syria.

In a similar move, the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) countries have decided to withdraw their ambassadors in Syria, and in the meantime demand Syrian ambassadors in the Gulf countries to leave, according to a GCC statement issued Tuesday.