Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov will meet with members of the Syrian opposition on August 31, Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova said Thursday. "On August 31, [Lavrov] will host leading member of the Syrian Front for Change and Liberation [Qadri] Jamil, general coordinator of the executive bureau of Syria's National Coordination Committee for Democratic Change Abdel Azim, and other members of the group overseeing the implementation of decisions made at intra-Syrian talks in Moscow," Zakharova told reporters. "The meeting is held as part of our efforts to accelerate the Syrian political process," she added. On Tuesday, Jamil told Sputnik that Lavrov was expected to meet with five intra-Syrian delegation members on August 31. Syria has been in a state of civil war since 2011. The country's government is fighting multiple opposition groups as well as radical Islamist militant organizations, including the Nusra Front and Islamic State. Russia has been engaged in international efforts to find a political solution to the ongoing conflict in Syria, as well as providing humanitarian aid to the people of the conflict-torn country. Moscow hosted two rounds of talks between the Syrian opposition and government authorities in 2015. During the April round of talks in Moscow the sides to the Syria conflict agreed on an agenda defining a framework for negotiations to end the war.
