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.

During his meeting with Syrian President Bashar al-Assad, Lavrov said that "We believe in the necessity of continuing efforts to solve and settle the Syrian crisis."

"Syria needs peace and an agreement should be reached away from any outside interference," he was quoted as saying.

"We stressed our readiness to help end the Syrian crisis, which was mentioned in the Arab League initiative," the Russian top diplomat said, calling on those "who reject to embark on a dialogue to join it" as a way to solve the months-long crisis.

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.

No statement was made about the content of the message that Lavrov and Fradkov have delivered to Assad at the behest of Russia 's President Dmitry Medvedev.

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 Arab League 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, France foreign ministry spokesman said Tuesday that his country 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 Gulf countries to leave, according to a GCC statement issued Tuesday.