Russian President Vladimir Putin met recently with Saudi Arabian foreign minister Saud al-Faisal, a Kremlin spokesman said on Tuesday, as both countries appeared to step up dialogue over the war in Syria.

Putin and Saudi Arabia's top diplomat met "one or two weeks ago", Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told Agence France Presse, refusing to say where the encounter took place or what was discussed.

Fighting is raging in eastern Syria as a jihadist group rooted in neighboring Iraq pushes a fresh bid to create an "Islamic state" along the border, a monitor said Tuesday.

Since the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) launched a new offensive in Deir Ezzor province 40 days ago, 634 people, mainly fighters, have been killed, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said.

Syrian warplanes carried out overnight raids on positions controlled by the opposition along the Lebanese-Syrian border, media reports said.

Voice of Lebanon radio (93.3) reported on Tuesday that the raids targeted Syrian opposition posts in the Eastern Mountain range.

Prime Minister Tammam Salam denied on Tuesday that the United States warned of the repercussions of establishing Syrian refugee camps on Lebanese territories.

Sources close to the PM ruled out in comments published in the pan-Arab daily Asharq al-Awsat that the U.S. Secretary of State, John Kerry, informed Salam during a meeting last week that his country rejects the establishment of camps for Syrians on Lebanese territories.

The International Committee of the Red Cross and Syria's Red Crescent have made rare aid deliveries in rebel-held territory in northern Aleppo province with government consent, a spokesman said Monday.

"Together with the Syrian Arab Red Crescent (SARC), we were able to deliver food assistance and other essential items such as kitchen sets, hygiene kits, blankets, mattresses to an area called Arum in western Aleppo that is under opposition control," ICRC spokesman Ralph El Hage told AFP.

United States Ambassador to Lebanon David Hale stressed on Monday the need for Lebanese powers to elect a new president, urging parliament to do so soon.

He said: “Only with a fully functioning presidency, parliament, and government will Lebanon be able to address effectively, with international support, the challenges it faces.

Qatar's prime minister on Monday urged the U.N. Security Council to impose a ceasefire in Syria and intervene to end the deadly conflict that he said threatens regional stability.

"It is incumbent on the international community, especially the Security Council, to act urgently and decisively to adopt a resolution imposing a ceasefire to ensure the security and safety of the Syrian people as well as stability in the whole region," said Sheikh Abdullah bin Naser bin Kahlifa al-Thani.

Syrian President Bashar Assad on Monday announced a "general amnesty" for all "crimes" committed to date, a week after a controversial election held amid raging conflict, state television said.

The amnesty decree is the most wide-ranging since the beginning of a revolt against Assad in March 2011, and for the first time extends to those accused under Syria's controversial July 2012 anti-terrorism law.

For more than 20 years, the Storyteller of Damascus entertained crowds in a centuries-old cafe in the Syrian capital with long, poetic tales of Arab warriors and lovers, acting out scenes with his fists thumping and a sword that he'd swing and slam on a table.

Rashid Hallak was the most famous of the few remaining "hakawatis" in Syria — traditional reciter-performers of old Arab legends.

As Syria's conflict drags on, refugees who fled to the UAE have recreated a slice of home in the Gulf state, from popular Syrian restaurants to Damascus's iconic Hamidiyeh market.

Amid the gentle bubbling of water pipes and the clack of backgammon pieces, visitors to the Hamidiyeh restaurant reminisce about Damascus in the luxurious Dubai Marina district.