EU foreign policy chief Javier Solana arrived in Damascus for high-level talks on Tuesday afternoon, at the start of a week-long tour of the region. Over the course of his two-day stay in Damascus, Solana will meet Deputy Prime Minister Abdallah al-Dardari on Tuesday evening, followed by a meeting with Syrian President Bashar al-Assad and Foreign Minister Walid al-Muallim on Wednesday.

He will next travel to Lebanon and Egypt on February 25, and to Israel on the following day. He will spend February 27 and 28 in the Palestinian territories, before attending a March 2 summit on reconstructing the Palestinian economy in Sharm al-Sheikh, Egypt.

His talks with Arab and Israeli leaders are expected to focus on efforts to revive flagging peace talks and to reconstruct the Gaza Strip's economy after Israel's 22-day offensive there in late December and January.

Solana on Monday urged a return to "conflict resolution" between Israelis and Palestinians following the Israeli elections.

"We have to see how the situation in Israel evolves after the elections," he told reporters in Brussels. "I think the time for concentrating only on crisis management is over and we have to do the conflict resolution as soon as possible."