UN seeks permission to send humanitarian chief to Syria The UN leader and Arab League secretary general Nabil al-Arabi on Wednesday discussed the possible appointment of a special envoy on Syria during talks in London, a UN spokesman said. Ban also discussed Syria with Turkey's Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoglu and praised Turkey's role in "pressing" for a solution to the crisis and helping Syrian refugees, the spokesman said. Efforts to get greater humanitarian access and the proposed special envoy will also be raised at a Friends of Syria meeting in Tunis on Friday, diplomats said. Ban said the Tunis meeting "would be a good opportunity for inclusive diplomatic engagement on Syria and for the international community to discuss how to address the urgent need for humanitarian assistance and access," the spokesman said. Russia, with China, has vetoed two resolutions on Syria at the UN Security Council in the past five months. But Russia appears to back moves to name a UN envoy for Syria and to secure greater humanitarian access into the country. "We are seriously concerned by incoming reports about the difficult humanitarian situation in Syria," Russian foreign ministry spokesman Alexander Lukashevich said in Moscow on Wednesday. "We actively support the efforts of the International Committee of the Red Cross" to establish a two hour truce each day, Lukashevich added.