Russia on Thursday warned the West against using threats and ultimatums in its approach to Syria's regime as the United Nations prepared a statement on the protracted conflict.

"Russia proceeds from a deep conviction that any steps around Syria should be aimed at facilitating the success of U.N.-Arab League envoy Kofi Annan's mission," Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said.

The U.N. Security Council will have to take "very urgent and serious" action if Syria fails to meet an April 10 deadline to halt its military operations in protest cities, U.S. ambassador Susan Rice said Tuesday.

U.N. Security Council members negotiated a statement backing the April 10 deadline that U.N.-Arab League envoy Kofi Annan says Syria has accepted, as fierce clashes were reported between government forces and rebels.

Syrian opposition figure Riyad Turk urged on Tuesday support for Kofi Annan's peace plan as he called for a national dialogue in Syria, but insisted that President Bashar Assad must first step down.

The "need to put an end to the cycle of killings and massacres ... urges us to accept Kofi Annan's plan," said Turk, a member of the Syrian National Council, whose leaders have not yet given a clear stance on the U.N.-Arab League envoy's peace proposal.

A Syrian government newspaper said on Monday that a weekend meeting in Istanbul of what it called the "Enemies of Syria" was a failure for those seeking to topple President Bashar Assad.

"Despite all the hype, the conference of the 'Enemies of Syria' produced only meager results... showing it was unable to shake Syrians' rejection of foreign intervention," said al-Baath newspaper, mouthpiece of Assad's ruling party by the same name.

President of the Special Tribunal for Lebanon Judge Sir David Baragwanath held talks on Monday with President Michel Suleiman and Prime Minister Najib Miqati separately as he is expected to meet with several other senior Lebanese officials.

The National News Agency reported that Suleiman discussed with Baragwanath at the Baabda Palace the progress of the STL’s work and the previous indictments it had issued.

Expectations are low of an international conference Sunday in Istanbul having much impact on the Syrian crisis, as discord among the so-called "Friends of Syria" outweighs their agreements.

More than 70 representatives from Western and Arab countries will gather to craft a solution aimed at halting the killing in Syria, after more than a year that has left between 9,000 and 10,000 people dead in a crackdown on dissent by Bashar Assad's regime.

Malawi's cabinet will decide if Sudan's President Omar al-Bashir can attend the AU summit in July, despite the war crimes warrant against him, the foreign minister told a weekly Saturday.

"This is a big decision and the whole government machinery needs to sit down to decide whether to allow, deny entry or arrest al-Bashir if he comes again," Foreign Minister Peter Mutharika told the Nation newspaper.

Deadly clashes raged and anti-regime protesters rallied across Syria on Friday to denounce the Arab League’s inaction in the face of a bloody crackdown on dissent after the annual Arab Summit only urged dialogue to resolve the crisis, as U.N.-Arab League envoy Kofi Annan urged the regime to immediately implement a ceasefire.

The Local Coordination Committees, the main activist group spurring protests on the ground, said security forces killed 45 people across the country: nine in Daraa, 14 in Deir al-Zour, three in Aleppo, 12 in Homs, four in Idlib, two in Damascus and one in Hama.

The world's biggest emerging powers on Thursday said dialogue was the only answer to the crises in Syria and Iran, seeking to buttress their economic heft with a unified diplomatic clout.

At their fourth summit, the leaders of the BRICS countries -- Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa -- also pushed for the creation of a new joint development bank as a counterpoint to Western-backed aid lenders.

There is enough evidence to bring human rights charges against Syrian President Bashar Assad over his crackdown on protesters, U.N. rights Chief Navi Pillay said in comments broadcast Wednesday.

In an interview with the BBC broadcast Wednesday but recorded earlier, Pillay said the president's role as commander of the security forces left him responsible for their actions during the unrest.