A Kremlin source told Interfax on Monday that Syria could play an important role in stabilizing the situation in the Palestinian territories, where the majority Hamas party and the Fatah party, which backs President Mahmoud Abbas, diverge on Abbas' proposal for early elections.

Putin and Assad will also discuss what Syria could do to help stabilize Iraq, the source said.

Syrian Vice President Farouk Sharaa told Interfax on Wednesday that Assad would also ask Putin to have Russia contribute to stabilization in the region.

"Our region is placing high hopes on Russia, given its geopolitical location," Sharaa said.

The two leaders are also expected to discuss a special court which will try suspects in last year's assassination of former Lebanese prime minister Rafik al-Hariri.

A recent United Nations inquiry has implicated Lebanese and Syrian officials in Hariri's killing, which has contributed to Syria's diplomatic isolation in spite of Assad's repeated denials that Damascus played a role in the assassination.

Russia did support the establishment of a special tribunal when the issue was put up for a vote at the UN Security Council but has warned against politicizing the issue.

A Kremlin press official would only confirm the two presidents were scheduled to meet in the Kremlin on Monday. A spokesman for the Syrian embassy in Moscow also declined to comment when reached by telephone Monday. Assad was scheduled to arrive in Moscow on Monday evening for a three-day visit.

Lebanese Prime Minister Fouad Siniora said Monday that his government was eager to improve strained relations with Syria but warned Damascus against meddling in Lebanon's domestic politics.

Siniora, speaking to the daily Vremya Novostei, said he told Russian officials during his trip to Moscow last week that Russia could help normalize the situation in Lebanon by using its contacts with Iran and Syria.

The Syrian-backed Lebanese Hezbollah guerrilla group and its allies have been holding protests and an open-ended sit-in against Siniora's U.S.-backed government in an attempt to force it to resign.

Russia enjoys more or less normal relations with all parties to the conflicts raging in the Middle East, and both Syria and Lebanon are looking to Moscow as "an honest broker" that could help hammer out a solution acceptable to all, said Irina Zviagelskaya, Middle East expert at the Moscow-based Institute of Oriental Studies.

Assad and Putin will also discuss sales of Russian arms to Syria, Syrian Vice President Sharaa is reported to have said.

"We need the weapons supplied by Russia for defense. We are getting them in a difficult way, and the entire international community is monitoring us. First of all, the U.S. and Israel," Sharaa said.

Syria has accounted for 4 percent or less of Russia's annual arms sales, which totaled a record $6.1 billion last year, but these sales have drawn strong criticism from Israel and United States. Israel has contended that some of the Russian anti-tank missiles sold to Syria wound up in the hands of Hezbollah and were used against Israeli forces in the recent war in Lebanon.

Syria might be interested in purchasing air-defense systems from Russia to shield itself from the Israeli air force as well as in upgrading its existing military hardware, but it cannot afford to spend heavily, said Konstantin Makiyenko, deputy director of the Center for Analysis of Strategies and Technologies.

Makiyenko predicted in an interview that Syria could purchase at most $300 million worth of Russian arms in the upcoming year.

In addition to selling arms to Syria, Russia also maintains a naval base there.

Russian companies have displayed interest in investing in Syria's oil sector, which has suffered from a decline in production.

Russian-Syrian trade almost tripled between 2001 and 2005, reaching $465.6 million last year.

The past nine months of 2006 saw trade between the two countries total $360 million. (with Moscow Times, Reuters)