Russia's President Vladimir Putin addresses Russian Ambassadors during their meeting in the Foreign Ministry, in Moscow, on July 9, 2012. Putin said today that Syria needed dialogue between the regime and opposition rather than foreign intervention to ensure a lasting peace. But he also repeated his earlier warnings against powers ordering armed intervention against Moscow's Soviet-era ally without prior approval from the UN Security Council on which Russia wields veto power. AFP PHOTO / POOL/ ALEXANDER NEMENOV