Russian President Vladimir Putin called for the immediate termination of the hostilities in Lebanon in a telephone conversation with British Prime Minister Tony Blair on Sunday, the Kremlin press service said.

Putin underscored the need to immediately stop the hostilities in Lebanon, which had claimed hundreds of lives and put to region on the brink of a humanitarian catastrophe, the Kremlin said.

The interlocutors stressed the importance of the comprehensive settlement in the Middle East and the resumption of the peace process. They also discussed the drafting of a resolution of the UN Security Council.

Meanwhile, Russia called on all countries, which may have a constructive influence on forces engaged in the Lebanese-Israeli conflict, to pool efforts for the sake of immediate ceasefire, Russian Foreign Ministry said on its website on Sunday.

The press release was issued following a meeting between Russian First Deputy Foreign Minister Andrei Denisov and Iranian Ambassador to Russia Gholamreza Ansari.

"The Russian side stressed the need for all states that are able to produce a constructive influence on the forces involved in the conflict to take joint efforts to secure an immediate ceasefire and to help find such a political solution to the Lebanese-Israeli conflict that would make a repeat of the latest events impossible," the release said.

Ansari briefed Denisov on Iranian Foreign Minister Manouchehr Mottaki on the situation surrounding Lebanon, the release said.