Canada has expelled four Russian diplomats following the arrest last weekend of a Canadian soldier charged with leaking secrets to a foreign entity, a newspaper reported Friday.

Canada's Globe and Mail said the four diplomats had been removed from the list of envoys officially recognized by Canada, while the CBC news service said at least some of them had left the country over the spying case.

Russian President Dmitry Medvedev held talks Friday with Palestinian president Mahmoud Abbas focused on efforts to kick start stalled peace negotiations with Israel.

Abbas told Medvedev in opening remarks at the Russian president's suburban Moscow residence that the Palestinians "will always draw upon your advice and the favorable approaches proposed by the Russian Federation."

Beijing on Wednesday defended the Arab League's widely criticized observer mission in Syria, as the U.N. Security Cocil struggled to agree on a resolution on Damascus' crackdown on dissent.

China, a permanent veto-wielding member of the Security Cocil, urged both sides to cooperate with the Arab League, saying the security situation in Syria had improved since it began its mission there.

Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov on Wednesday defended Russia's trade with Syria amid growing controversy over a mysterious shipment that reportedly delivered a supply of arms to Damascus.

Lavrov was asked to address criticism from Washington's U.N. Ambassador Susan Rice that followed reports that the shipment brought munitions to President Bashar Assad's forces amid their crackdown on protesters.

Russia warned Wednesday that a military strike on Iran would be a "catastrophe" with the severest consequences which risked inflaming existing tensions between Sunni and Shiite Muslims.

"As for the chances of this catastrophe happening, you would have to ask those constantly mentioning it as an option that remains on the table," Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said when asked on the chances of military action.

Russia on Wednesday accused Western powers of trying to "suffocate" the Iranian economy and incite popular discontent with new sanctions such as a proposed oil embargo.

Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said all sanctions aimed at winning more transparency from Iran concerning its nuclear program had "exhausted" themselves and new measures threatened to only hurt the Iranian people.

France and Germany said Tuesday that a new Russian draft resolution at the U.N. Security Council on the Syrian crisis was inadequate, as Britain said it was unlikely Russia would let the U.N. body take any serious action.

It was "very far from responding to the reality of the situation in Syria", where President Bashar al-Assad's crackdown on protests has left thousands of people dead, French foreign ministry spokesman Romain Nadal said.

Russia on Monday distributed a new draft resolution on the Syrian crisis at the U.N. Security Council after facing weeks of criticism over the slow pace of talks, diplomats said.

Western diplomats said however there is no apparent change in the Russian position opposing any strong U.N. action against President Bashar al-Assad's crackdown on protests which has left thousands dead.

Progressive Socialist Party leader MP Walid Jumblat has warned that revolt-hit Syria might “descend into civil war if the bloodshed continues,” stressing that the Arab peoples “can no longer tolerate autocratic parties and rulers.”

In his weekly column in his party’s Al-Anbaa newspaper to be published Tuesday, Jumblat said: “The Arab peoples can no longer tolerate autocratic parties and rulers, and the freedom fighters and revolutionaries in all countries do not buy anymore the obsolete rhetoric that was used for years to control the masses.”

Russian President Dmitry Medvedev on Monday submitted a bill to parliament that would reinstate the direct election of regional governors following mass protests calling for reform.

Under the bill, Russian citizens would elect their regional leaders running independently or on a party ticket for a term of five years, the Kremlin said in a statement.