Russia said the UN Security Council had "practically agreed" a resolution on sending an observer mission to Syria and called on all sides to strictly obey Kofi Annan’s plan

Russia on Saturday said the UN Security Council had "practically agreed" a resolution on sending an observer mission to Syria and called on all sides to strictly obey Kofi Annan’s plan.
  
"The resolution on the deployment into Syria of a UN monitoring mission advance group has been practically agreed for adoption at the UN Security Council," the foreign ministry said.
  
Russia's UN ambassador Vitaly Churkin had said he was not "completely satisfied" with the talks held at the UN on Friday over the resolution, which was set to go to a vote later Saturday.
  
Russia and China had previously vetoed UN resolutions concerning the Syrian crisis.
  
The foreign ministry statement said talks between the Syrian government and United Nations were needed to agree the parameters of the mission. It said that a "technical group" should be sent by the United Nations for talks with the Syrian government and the question "is of an urgent nature".
  
The ministry called on all sides "including the armed opposition" to refrain from fighting and "strictly observe the Kofi Annan plan and move towards a broad negotiating process."