Syria warning

Dmitry Medvedev, the Russian president, warned yesterday that Kofi Annan represented the last chance for avoiding a civil war in Syria and offered the UN-Arab League envoy Moscow’s full support.

Mr Medvedev’s stark message to Moscow’s traditional ally came only hours after US President Barack Obama announced plans to send “non-lethal” aid to the Syrian rebels and new waves of violence swept the country.

Russia has been facing mounting Western and Arab calls to step up pressure and stop delivering arms to President Bashar al-Assad’s regime after a year of violence that the opposition says has cost more than 9,100 lives. “This may be the last chance for Syria to avoid a protracted and bloody civil war,” Mr Medvedev told Mr Annan.