United Nations human rights investigators say the situation in Syria is "deteriorating rapidly," and that both government troops and rebels opposed to President Bashar al-Assad have committed war crimes.
In their latest report to the U.N. Human Rights Council, the investigators said fighting in Syria has escalated since July, with the conflict becoming more sectarian, radicalized and militarized.
They said abuses by rebels were not on the same scale as those by government troops, but that both sides were found to have used child fighters.
The report also calls on the international community to curb the supply of weapons gong into Syria with consideration for how the arms might affect the wider region.
It recommends a political solution to the two-year crisis, saying there is "no alternative."
In Moscow, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said Monday the situation in Syria is "not getting any better."
He met with Syrian opposition leaders who are not a part of the main opposition Syrian National Coalition, and stressed his country's position that any solution to the Syrian crisis must come from within Syria.