Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov on Wednesday told his British counterpart William Hague of the need to wait for the results of a U.N. probe of an alleged chemical attack near Damascus before taking any action against Syria.

"The Russian side stressed the need to wait for the results of the work of the U.N. inspection mission who is currently in Syria (and) investigating the claims of the use of chemical weapons in the Syrian conflict," the Russian foreign ministry said in a statement.

Russia evacuated 116 Russian citizens and nationals of other ex-Soviet states on two planes belonging to the emergencies ministry which flew them from the Syrian port city of Latakia, the ministry said Wednesday.

The first plane, an Ilyushin-76 cargo plane, brought back 89 people wanting to leave the conflict-torn country and landed at Moscow's Domodedovo airport late on Tuesday.

Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov warned against a military solution to the Syria conflict, saying it would destabilize the country and the Middle East region, the foreign ministry said Wednesday.

In a telephone conversation with U.N.-Arab League Syria envoy Lakhdar Brahimi, Lavrov "emphasized the lack of alternative to a diplomatic solution and that attempts for a military solution will lead only to a further destabilization of the situation in the country and the region," the ministry said.

Any retaliation by Syria and its allies to limited Western military strikes would be restrained, but large-scale intervention aimed at ousting President Bashar Assad would inflame the region, analysts say.

Tensions have ratcheted up dramatically in recent days as Washington has warned Syria's regime it will face action over alleged chemical weapons strikes in Damascus in which hundreds are said to have been killed.

The meteor that injured over 1,500 people when it exploded and showered debris over Russia in February may have had a close shave with the Sun earlier, researchers said Tuesday.

A study of its composition showed the space rock had undergone "intensive melting" before entering Earth's atmosphere and streaking over the central Russia's Chelyabinsk region in a blinding fireball, they said in a statement.

U.S. President Barack Obama is weighing an attack against Syria that would be of limited scope and duration, newspapers reported Tuesday.

The strike in retaliation for what the United States says is Syria's undeniable use of chemical weapons against civilians would probably last no more than two days and seek to keep America out of wider involvement in the country's 29-month civil war, the Washington Post reported, quoting unnamed senior administration officials.

Unidentified gunmen on Tuesday assassinated the top regional security official in Russia's violence-plagued Caucasus republic of Ingushetia as he was being driven to work, investigators said.

Akhmed Kotiev, head of Ingushetia's Security Council, was killed when gunmen opened fire on his car in an attack that also claimed the life of his driver, the Russian Investigative Committee said in a statement.

Russia on Tuesday warned a military intervention in Syria could have "catastrophic consequences" for the region and called on the international community to show "prudence" over the crisis.

"Attempts to bypass the Security Council, once again to create artificial groundless excuses for a military intervention in the region are fraught with new suffering in Syria and catastrophic consequences for other countries of the Middle East and North Africa," the foreign ministry said.

Russian President Vladimir Putin on Monday told British Prime Minister David Cameron that there was no evidence yet that the Syrian regime had used chemical weapons against rebels, Cameron's office said.

During a telephone call between the two leaders, Putin said that "they did not have evidence of whether a chemical weapons attack had taken place or who was responsible," according to a Downing Street spokesman.

Russia on Monday warned the West against intervening militarily in the Syrian conflict without the approval of the U.N. Security Council, saying such action would violate international law.

"Using force without the approval of the U.N. Security Council is a very grave violation of international law," Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov told reporters.