Russian envoy arrives in Syria for talks DAMASCUS, Syria, Feb. 7 (UPI) -- Russian Foreign Minister Sergey L. Lavrov and head of foreign intelligence Mikhail Fradkov arrived in Damascus Tuesday for talks with President Bashar Assad. Russia "firmly intends to seek the swiftest stabilization of the situation in Syria on the basis of the swiftest implementation of democratic reforms whose time has come," Lavrov said. Syria has been a key Middle Eastern client state of Moscow since 1971. The arrival of the Russian representatives comes three days after Russia and China vetoed a U.N. Security Council measure condemning Assad's crackdown on protesters and calling for him to be replaced by a unity government. U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations Susan Rice called the vetoes "disgusting," saying Russia and China "will have any future blood spill on their hands." U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton denounced them as a "travesty." Washington Monday closed its embassy in Damascus, saying the situation had deteriorated to the point where the safety of embassy staff could no longer be guaranteed. He said Russia had been willing to come to a consensus with other council members but its proposed amendments were shot down Saturday and the resolution was put to a vote in a "hasty" way that all but invited Russia's veto to make Moscow look bad. Syrian forces killed at least 128 people nationwide on Monday, mostly in the city of Homs, the opposition Syrian Revolution General Commission reported. On Tuesday, 21 people were killed in the city of Homs, CNN reported. Mousa Azzawi of the Syrian Network for Human Rights told CNN Monday, "the situation is very dire," saying Monday was "like a bloodbath." U.N. officials estimate about 6,000 people have died since the uprising began almost a year ago.