Russia is ready to host talks between the Syrian opposition and President Bashar Assad in a bid to end the country's conflict, its U.N. envoy said Wednesday.

Ambassador Vitaly Churkin made the offer as he stepped up Russian attacks on the United States and European countries for saying they will seek to increase pressure on Assad outside of the U.N. Security Council.

Russia is to become the World Trade Organization's 156th member on August 22, the international trade arbiter said on Wednesday, capping almost two decades of entry talks.

The announcement comes after the Geneva-based organization received the so-called instruments of ratification from Russia on July 23.

Russia on Wednesday lashed out at the United States for backing the armed opposition to the Syrian regime, saying Washington's failure to condemn the July 18 blast that killed top security officials meant it was justifying terror.

"This is quite an awful position, I cannot even find the words to make clear how we feel," Lavrov told reporters. "This is directly justifying terrorism. How can this be understood?"

Russia condemned on Wednesday a new round of EU sanctions against Syria over the prolonged conflict with the opposition as amounting to an air and sea "blockade" of its Soviet-era ally.

"Essentially, the measures taken by the European Union can be considered a declaration of a sea and air blockade of Syria," the Russian foreign ministry said in a statement.

Dozens of people protested at the Russian embassy in Beirut on Tuesday, denouncing Syrian regime "massacres" while calling on Russia and China to change their positions on the crisis.

The protesters -- both Syrians and Lebanese -- held up posters denouncing the violence in neighboring Syria, where rights activists say more than 19,000 people have been killed in a 16-month uprising.

A Russian naval flotilla of warships destined for the Syrian port of Tartus has entered the Mediterranean, Russia's defense ministry said Tuesday.

"The Russian ships today passed the Strait of Gibraltar and entered the Mediterranean at 1200 GMT," said a defense ministry spokesman, quoted by Itar-Tass agency.

Russia urged its Middle East ally Syria on Tuesday to refrain from using chemical weapons despite its threat to unleash the previously unreported arsenal in case of a foreign attack.

The foreign ministry said it "would like to underline that Syria joined" a Geneva protocol on the non-use of such weapons and "presumes that the Syrian authorities will continue to rigorously abide by its assumed international obligations".

Russia and a top Italian construction firm on Monday signed a deal worth 1.0 billion euros to build infrastructure for developing tourism in the violence-plagued Northern Caucasus region.

The deal, signed on the sidelines of a visit to Russia by Italian Prime Minister Mario Monti, foresees the Italian firm Rizzani de Eccher investing 1.0 billion euros ($1.2 billion) to develop hotels and commercial infrastructure.

Russian President Vladimir Putin has signed into law a controversial bill passed by parliament that brands NGOs who receive funding from abroad as "foreign agents", the Kremlin said Saturday.

The law, which has caused huge concern among activists who fear it will be used to stigmatize critical NGOs, was signed by Putin after it was rushed through the lower and upper houses of parliament before their summer breaks.

Russian President Vladimir Putin warned Western powers on Friday not to take unilateral action against the Syrian government outside the U.N. Security Council.

The Kremlin said Putin delivered the comments at a closed meeting of Russia's powerful Security Council that groups all the top ministers and decides strategy on the most sensitive foreign and domestic affairs.