Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said on Thursday that any peace plan for Syria that calls on President Bashar al-Assad to leave power and go into exile was not workable because he would not quit.

"A scheme according to which President Assad should leave somewhere before something happens in terms of a cessation of violence and a political process, this scheme does not work simply from the very start," the Interfax news agency quoted Lavrov as saying. "It is infeasible because he will not leave."

Russia on Thursday confirmed for the first time that a cargo ship forced to turn back from British waters was carrying attack helicopters for Syria and said it would now sail under the Russian flag.

U.S. intelligence operatives in Turkey are vetting the flow of weapons to Syrian rebels to ensure they do not fall into the hands of Al-Qaida militants, the New York Times reported Thursday.

The Times cited unnamed U.S. officials and Arab intelligence officials as saying the weapons were being paid for by Turkey, Saudi Arabia and Qatar and funneled across the border by a shadowy opposition network.

Russia's second-largest airline, Transaero, agreed Thursday to buy four Airbus A380 jets in a deal worth $1.7 billion becoming the first ex-Soviet carrier to order the world's biggest passenger jet.

The contract was signed by Transaero's general director Olga Pleshakova and Airbus Executive Vice-President Europe, Christopher Buckley at the annual Saint Petersburg Economic Forum.

The Arab League demanded on Thursday that Russia stop supplying arms to Syria, as a regime onslaught of Homs and its surrounds appeared to stall a Red Cross bid to rescue trapped civilians.

The pan-Arab bloc's deputy secretary general Ahmed Ben Hilli issued the appeal in an interview in which he also called for U.N.-Arab League envoy Kofi Annan's mandate to be revamped, and for Iran's inclusion in talks on Syria.

A Russian cargo line denied on Wednesday it was involved in illegal transport of weapons and attack helicopters to Syria amid media reports Moscow was sending arms to the conflict-torn country.

Britain's Sunday Telegraph earlier reported that the MV Alaed operated by Femco, a shipping company based on Russia's Sakhalin Island, carried attack helicopters destined for Syria.

U.S. President Barack Obama on Tuesday said Russia and China understood the dangers of a Syrian civil war but had not yet "signed on" to a plan to prod President Bashar Assad from power.

Obama said after meeting Presidents Vladimir Putin and Hu Jintao at the G20 summit in Mexico that he hoped work could take place on a political transition plan to present to the Syrian people in the next two weeks.

Iran and world powers on Tuesday dug in for a second day of attritional talks in Moscow aimed at breaking an increasingly risky deadlock in the decade-long crisis over the Iranian nuclear program.

With the United States and Israel refusing to rule out military action and Tehran facing severe economic sanctions, the price of failure in the Russian capital could be high but there was no sign of progress on the first day.

A Russian ship allegedly carrying attack helicopters and missiles destined for Syria has stopped off the Scottish coast after its British insurer withdrew cover for the vessel.

Britain said it was aware of a consignment of refurbished Russian-made helicopters on a ship heading to Syria but did not specify the vessel, and refused to confirm reports that it had alerted the insurer.

Russian President Vladimir Putin will visit Jordan on June 26 for talks with King Abdullah II on Arab uprisings as well as regional peace efforts, the palace said on Monday.

"Putin will start a one-day visit to Jordan on June 26, during which he will discuss with the king political changes and developments in the Middle East as well as efforts to achieve peace there," the palace said, indicating that the two leaders will discuss Arab uprisings and Mideast peace efforts.