Foreign ministers of the United States, Britain, France, Russia, Italy, Lebanon, Jordan, Saudi Arabia and Egypt would participate in the meeting, Foreign Ministry spokesman Mikhail Kamynin was quoted by the Itar-Tass news agency as saying.

The meeting was "called to help the development of a schedule of urgent actions to stop the crisis, and will be an important step on the path to the formation of a comprehensive approach to settlement of the conflict in the Middle East," Kamynin said.

"It is clear that any accords should rest in readiness of the sides for cooperation. Russia is continuing to actively stimulate them for this purpose in an extension of the work of our special representatives in the region," Kamynin said.

Representatives of the UN, the European Union and the World Bank are also expected to attend the meeting, Kamynin said.

Israel has launched military operations against Lebanon after Hezbollah held two Israeli hostages two weeks ago, and Hezbollah fought back with rockets.

The escalation caused hundreds of deaths and more injuries on both sides.