Syrian President Bashar al-Assad has promised Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov that he will bring an end to bloodshed in Syria.
However, Western and Arab states have acted to isolate Mr Assad further after activists and rebels said his forces killed over 100 in the city of Homs.
Mr Lavrov, who was in Syria for the talks, said both countries wanted to revive a monitoring effort by the Arab League.
The Arab League's plan to resolve Syria's crisis was vetoed in the UN Security Council by Russia and China.
There was no indication from Mr Lavrov's comments that the issue of Mr Assad eventually giving up power, a key part of the failed Arab proposal, had been raised.
Mr Assad said he would cooperate with any plan that stabilised Syria, but made clear that only included an earlier Arab League proposal that called for dialogue, release of prisoners and withdrawing the army from protest centres.
Walid al-Bunni, a senior member of the opposition Syrian National Council, said Mr Lavrov brought no new initiative and that "so-called reforms" promised by Mr Assad were not enough.
"The crimes that have been committed have left no room for Bashar al-Assad to remain ruler of Syria," he said.
Opposition activists said government forces renewed the shelling of Homs just before Mr Lavrov's arrival, killing some 19 people in a campaign that they say has claimed over 300 lives in the last five days.
There were also reports from residents of shelling and fighting between government and rebel forces in Hama.
Syria says Homs, which is the heart of 11 months of protest against Mr Assad's rule, is the site of a running battle with "terrorists" directed and funded from abroad.
Parts of the city are held by insurgents that include army defectors.
Syria's references to foreign interference are widely read to include Gulf Arab states, which followed the lead of the US and EU in reducing their diplomatic presence in Damascus.
