Russia bowed somewhat to international pressure by announcing it would suspend deliveries of new weapons to the Assad regime, according to a Monday Reuters report.
Meanwhile, Syria's military put on large scale defensive exercises on Sunday in an attempt to ward off potential invasion, as reported by the Associated Press.
Here's a look at all the latest news on Syria and its civil war.
No more arms deals: Vyacheslav Dzirkal, the deputy director of the Federal Service for Military Technical Cooperation, told reporters that due to the instability within the country, Russia would no longer provide deliveries of arms to support the regime. Syrian President Bashar al-Assad has been a long-standing ally of Russia's, while Syria is also Russia's only naval base outside of the former U.S.S.R.
Among the sales transactions Russia will put a hold on are 36 Yak-130 fighter planes, though a shipment of attack helicopters was sent last month.
Syria trying to ward off "outside aggression": In an effort to reassure other countries, such as Turkey, that it would defend itself if attacked, Syria began a naval exercise on Sunday. The exercises are to be followed by air and ground military war games in coming days.
Annan still trying to save peace plan: Envoy Kofi Annan, representing the U.N. and Arab League, met with Assad according to another report from the Associated Press, and said that he had a "candid and constructive" two-hour meeting with the president. Though Annan said Assad had agreed to a framework, he also noted that Iran, one of Syria's few supportive remaining supportive country contacts, and the opposition would have to be part of the solution.
Annan left for discussions in Iran late on Monday.
31 dead in Homs, around the country Monday: The Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights was reported by AFP as having claimed 31 Syrians were killed on Monday.
Rebels hold the city of Homs which Syrian forces shelled early in the day. Security forces also tried to quell a revolt in Qusayr.
The town of Ariha in Idlib province in the northwest was also pounded by shelling, resulting in six deaths.
The United Nations is no longer monitoring the situation on the ground due to security risks, and there is no independent means of determining casualties due to press restrictions.
Shawn Humphrey is a former contributor to The Flint Journal and an amateur Africanist, focusing his personal studies on human rights and political issues on the continent.
