"We are convinced that the shortest path to the safety of peaceful civilians is through an immediate ceasefire and the start of dialogue"

"Significant" military action in Libya should recede in a matter of days, US Defense Secretary Robert Gates said Tuesday during talks with his Russian counterpart in Moscow.

The Pentagon chief later confirmed that he was referring to US and allied bombing raids, saying that there would be less need for air strikes once Moammar Gaddafi regime's air defenses are eliminated.

"I think as we are successful at suppressing the air defenses the level of kinetic activity should decline," he told reporters travelling with him.

His comments came a day after US President Barack Obama said Washington would be reducing its role in the operation shortly.

Defense Minister Anatoly Serdyukov told visiting Gates that Russia wants to see an immediate ceasefire in Libya and the start of political negotiations. "We urge [the sides] to do everything to end the violence," Serdyukov said after closed-door talks with his US counterpart, adding that Moscow believed Libyan civilians had been killed in the Western air strikes.

"We are convinced that the shortest path to the safety of peaceful civilians is through an immediate ceasefire and the start of dialogue," Serdyukov said.

Russia abstained from last week's UN Security Council vote approving international military involvement in Libya. Russian President Dmitry Medvedev on Monday suggested that Moscow could potentially help mediate a political solution to the conflict.