Clashes Seen in Syria as Russia Seeks More Influence Over Conflict BEIRUT, Lebanon - Russia, the most powerful supporter of Syria's embattled government, took new steps on Wednesday to exert its diplomatic influence over the violent conflict there, inviting both the Syrian foreign minister and representatives of the opposition to Moscow for talks this month and warning foreign sympathizers of armed rebels not to supply them with more weapons. But the moves seemed to have brought little immediate lessening of violence, with activist groups on Thursday reporting clashes in the north and south of the country. The Russian steps came as Syria's state-run media asserted that the government had begun to comply with the terms of a cease-fire plan brokered by Kofi Annan, the special envoy of the United Nations and Arab League. It requires Syrian forces to pull back from major population centers by Tuesday. Activist Web sites reported the opposite picture, saying the Syrian military shelled and shot at targets mostly in and around the cities of Idlib, Homs and Dara'a, the chronic trouble areas in President Bashar al-Assad's 13-month-old effort to crush the uprising against him. The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, a London-based exile group with contacts in Syria, said at least 18 people were killed on Wednesday. On Thursday, the group said government forces attacked several towns across the country, including two - Hraytan and Anadan - near the northern city of Aleppo, Syria's largest, according to The Associated Press. More fighting was reported from the Damascus suburb of Douma and the southern village of Kfar Shams. The United States, which has led the Western pressure on Mr. Assad to step down and has agreed to provide nonlethal equipment to the anti-Assad resistance, said it had seen no evidence that the Syrian government had begun to comply with the cease-fire plan. "What we've seen, frankly, is an intensification of artillery bombardments in major population centers like Homs and Idlib," a State Department spokesman, Mark Toner, told reporters in Washington. The Russian Foreign Ministry announced on its Twitter account that the Syrian foreign minister, Walid al-Moallem, would hold talks in Moscow with his counterpart, Sergey V. Lavrov, on Tuesday - the deadline for compliance with the initial phase of Mr. Annan's cease-fire plan - and that representatives of the National Coordination Committee, an opposition group inside Syria, would visit the Kremlin for talks April 17-18. Mr. Lavrov, who has strongly defended Russia's support for Syria's government but has been increasingly critical of Mr. Assad's behavior, said during a visit to Azerbaijan on Wednesday that he must comply with the cease-fire plan. But he also admonished the so-called "Friends of Syria" group of anti-Assad countries, which met in Turkey with exile Syrian opposition groups this past weekend, not to provide weapons to rebel combatants, as some of those countries have suggested. "Even if the Syrian opposition were armed to the teeth, it would not be able to beat the government's forces," Mr. Lavrov said in remarks carried by Russian news agencies. There was anecdotal evidence earlier this week that Syrian security forces had reduced their presence in some hotspots in the suburbs of Damascus. In Saqba, a district 15 minutes east of the Syrian capital where frequent clashes and protests have taken place, a reporter did not see any tanks or armored vehicles. But military checkpoints dotted the approach to the district center and security officers checked all cars and demanded identification of all young men. Cinderblock shelters and tents had been erected for the soldiers, suggesting the government foresaw an indefinite crisis. Most shops were open, and people were cleaning and fixing them up. Shopkeepers said they had kept them closed ever since in a general strike after a government crackdown two months ago, but were now reopening as part of a coordinated decision by local protest leaders. People spoke openly against the government in the shops and streets, despite the heavy security presence. Abu Fahad, 30, a protest organizer who declined to give his full name for safety reasons, said in his upscale furniture store in Saqba that protesters would keep demonstrating until 2014, the end of Mr. Assad's term, if necessary. "Every Friday Prayer means a demonstration for us in Saqba," he said. The regime tries to close all mosques and prevent prayers on Fridays, but they cannot. He said it was the government that was frightened, not the protesters. "On every corner and street there is a security checkpoint," he said. Not to frighten us, but because the regime is afraid. An employee of the New York Times contributed reporting from Saqba, Syria.