The French President has hit out at Russia for not pressuring President Bashar al-Assad to step down.

Francois Hollande says political transition must take place in the conflict-torn country.

The president's comments come after Russia's Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov reiterated today that Moscow has no intention of pushing Assad to quit, saying it would be against Russian policy to do so and would be unlikely to happen anyway.

In a statement this evening, the French presidential office said Hollande had congratulated Syrian opposition chief Ahmed Moaz al-Khatib on the Arab League's recent decision to recognise the Coalition as the sole legitimate representative of the Syrian people.

Hollande "supports al-Khatib's initiative of proposing a political dialogue" and "reiterates France's consistent stance that a transition involves the departure of Bashar al-Assad", it said.

The United Nations estimate that more than 70,000 people have been killed and around one million people have been displaced since the Syrian conflict began in March 2011.