Israeli officials asked visiting Russian President Vladimir Putin to exert efforts to stop Syrian biological and chemical weapons from falling into the hands of Hizbullah, a senior Israeli diplomatic source said.

"We asked Putin for Russia to work more actively to preserve stability in Syria, to prevent biological and chemical weapons from falling into the hands of Hizbullah or other terror groups," the source told Israeli daily Haaretz.

A Russian ship that tried to deliver repaired attack helicopters to Syria raised Russia's tricolor flag on Monday as it awaited orders in a naval port to possibly make a second attempt, a report said.

The Alaed cargo vessel dropped anchor at the main base of Russia's Northern Fleet near the city of Murmansk on Sunday after being forced to turn back when its British insurer dropped coverage on learning of the mission's true intent.

Russian President Vladimir Putin arrived in Israel on Monday for talks with Israeli and Palestinian leaders against the backdrop of sustained violence in Syria and concern on Iran's nuclear program.

Putin arrived around midday (09:00 GMT) for a first stop in the northern Israeli town of Netanya, where he was to participate in the unveiling of a memorial honoring the role of the Red Army in World War II.

Japan and Russia have agreed to throw their support behind a private-sector project to build a liquefied natural gas plant in Russia's Far East, a Japanese official said Monday.

Japanese trade and industry minister Yukio Edano and Russian energy minister Alexander Novak signed a memorandum of understanding on the sidelines of an Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation forum in St. Petersburg at the weekend, trade ministry official Tsutomu Kato said.

Australia Monday announced fresh sanctions against Syria restricting or prohibiting trade across entire sectors as Foreign Minister Bob Carr urged Russia to take a lead role in regime change.

The new measures affect trade between Australia and Syria in oil, petroleum, financial services, telecommunications and precious metals and are in addition to an existing arms embargo and sanctions against individuals connected to leaders in Damascus.

A strong 6.6 magnitude quake struck Russia's Far East on Sunday off the eastern coastline of the Kamchatka peninsula, causing no damage or injuries, news reports said.

The quake hit at around 0315 GMT at a depth of 66 kilometers (41 miles) some 50 kilometers from Cape Ozerny, which faces the Bering Sea off the peninsula's northern edge, RIA Novosti quoted the local geological service as saying.

A Russian ship carrying a controversial cargo of attack helicopters that Moscow repaired for Syria has re-entered Russian waters after turning back off Britain, an official said on Saturday.

The Alaed, whose cargo has greatly troubled the West amid the spiraling conflict in Syria, is due to enter the Kola Gulf, which leads from the Barents Sea towards Russia's Arctic port of Murmansk, on Sunday morning.

The Russian government is this month set to agree a framework to settle North Korea's $11 billion debt to Moscow dating back to Soviet times, a deputy minister said.

Russia's Deputy Finance Minister Sergei Storchak made a rare visit by a top Russian official to Pyongyang from May 31 to June 2 to discuss the settling of the outstanding debt.

A Russian ship will make a second attempt to deliver military helicopters to Syria after docking in the northern port of Murmansk on return from its current voyage, Interfax reported on Friday.

The Alaed cargo vessel will return to Murmansk on Saturday and then set off again for the Syrian port of Tartus under the accompaniment of at least one other Russian ship, an unnamed diplomatic source told the news agency.

Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov on Friday met his Syrian counterpart Walid al-Muallem, urging Damascus to do more to implement the plan of peace envoy Kofi Annan.