Implementation of Annan plan 'unsatisfactory': Lavrov

MOSCOW - Both Moscow and London believed the UN-Arab League envoy Kofi Annan's peace plan is the best hope for Syria, but the implementation of the plan was unsatisfactory, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said Monday.

After his talks with visiting British Foreign Secretary William Hague here, Lavrov told a joint press conference that Russia considers the end of violence to be more important than who is in power.

"We need to put pressure on both the regime and the opposition to make them stop killing each other, stop military actions, in which civilians are killed, and begin negotiations," Lavrov said.

On the latest horrifying carnage in the central Syrian village of Houla, Lavrov believed both the Syrian authorities and the extremist groups were involved in the tragedy.

For his part, Hague blamed the Syrian government for the carnage, saying the government bears the main responsibility for the unsatisfactory implementation of Annan's plan.

He also called on Russia to exert additional pressure on Syria to ensure realization of Annan's plan.