Russia affiliated Syrian ’opposition’ to meet Russian FM

Russia’s foreign ministry confirmed in a report issued on Wednesday that Minister Sergey Lavrov will meet some representatives from the Syrian opposition in Moscow on Friday.

Further details about the meeting were not provided. 

The meeting comes three days after the Astana talks between opposition fighting groups’ representatives and Assad regime in the Kazakh capital.

Opposition delegate Osama Abu Zeid told reporters, after the talks, that their group had made proposals to Russia regarding the ceasefire implementation mechanism.

The Astana talks, which focused on extending the Syria ceasefire that came into effect on December. 30, included representatives of the regime, opposition fighting groups, Russia, Turkey, Iran as well as UN Special Envoy Staffan de Mistura and US Ambassador to Kazakhstan George Krol.

"The results of the Astana talks bring efforts to settle the Syrian crisis to a new level," Lavrov told the State Duma, the lower house of Russia’s parliament.

Lavrov said Russia has increased its cooperation with Turkey, Iran, and other countries in the region to solve the Syrian crisis.