(VOVworld)- Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said on Friday a Marshall plan was needed for Syria, similar to a Western agreement to help post-war Germany.

Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov (C), Syrian Foreign Minister Walid al-Muallem (R) and Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif attend a news conference in Moscow, Russia, October 28, 2016. REUTERS/Sergei Karpukhin

Speaking after talks with his Syrian and Iranian counterparts in Moscow, Lavrov said unlawful sanctions against Syria would harm its civilian population and there was no alternative to a political solution to the country's civil war. After a three-way meeting in Moscow, the foreign ministers of Russia, Syria and Iran say their countries have agreed to intensify the fighting in Syria. He also reiterated Russian denials that its warplanes were responsible for an attack on a school in Idlib province that the U.N. children's agency says killed 20 children and six teachers.