Russia's Deputy Foreign Minister, Mikhail Bogdanov announced Friday that Syrian authorities called for a meeting, to be held in Moscow, between the Syrian government and opposition to reach a political solution, Middle East News Agency (MENA) reported. The Syrian regime called upon Moscow to host a third meeting between them and representatives of the opposition to seek a solution for the nearly 5-year old civil war, according to Russian Interfax News Agency. An estimated 220,000 people have been killed, and more have been forced to flee their hometowns. Russia has been trying to arrange peace talks that would include meetings between representatives of the regime and the opposition.