Russia has urged Syrian President Bashar al-Assad and opposition forces to agree to daily humanitarian truces, backing an initiative from the International Committee of the Red Cross to treat the country’s wounded.
Russia is one of Syria's main remaining international allies but it is unclear how much influence Moscow can wield over Damascus more than a year into a bloody uprising against President Assad.
Moscow’s foreign ministry called on both Damascus and the armed opposition to agree "without delay to daily humanitarian pauses" after ICRC President Jakob Kellenberger held talks with Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov on Monday.
There was also a call for the ICRC to have access to "those detained in Syria for their participation in protests".
On 21 February, the ICRC, the only international agency to deploy aid workers in Syria, proposed a daily humanitarian ceasefire of two hours to allow time to evacuate the wounded and deliver food, medicine and other vital supplies.
Mr Kellenberger said he told Mr Lavrov today that the situation had grown more "urgent" and that a likely deterioration made the need for the daily ceasefires all the more important.
"It cannot be that when you have the most intense fighting you do not have access to evacuate the wounded," Mr Kellenberger told Reuters in an interview.
"We also want to do protection activities, and by that I mean protection of medical missions, and it means access to detainees so that we can check their conditions and treat them."
Mr Kellenberger told Reuters Mr Lavrov had "clearly agreed to and was supportive of" the ceasefire idea.
The ICRC chief said it was not clear what channels Russia would use to exert pressure on Mr Assad.
Heavy fighting reported in Damascus
Heavy fighting was reported in Damascus overnight between Free Syrian Army rebels and forces loyal to President Assad.
Witnesses say the sound of machine-guns and rocket-propelled grenades could be heard from the central district of al-Mezze.
It is one of the most heavily guarded parts of the capital and home to several security facilities and foreign embassies.
Rami Abdel Rahman, of the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, said 18 soldiers or security troops were wounded in the fighting that broke out at dawn in the upscale and heavily guarded Mazzeh district of Damascus.
"The clashes were the strongest and the closest to security installations in the capital since the outbreak of the revolt a year ago," Abdel Rahman said.
Mourtada Rasheed, an activist in Damascus, said blasts and heavy shooting could be heard in Mazzeh as well as two other districts, Qaboon and Arbeen.
"We woke up at 3.00am to the sound of heavy machinegun fire and rocket propelled grenades," said one resident of Qaboon who did not wish to be identified.
"The fighting lasted about ten minutes, then eased before starting again," he said.
Reports from Syria cannot be independently verified as state authorities have barred international journalists and rights groups.
The clashes in the capital took place after two car bombs ripped through two neighbourhoods of Damascus on Saturday killing 27 people according to the Syrian interior ministry.
Another car bomb exploded on Sunday in a residential neighbourhood of Aleppo, Syria's second city, killing two people.
