Moscow urges unified opposition delegation in talks with Syrian gov't

Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov on Wednesday urged the Syrian opposition to form a unified delegation for negotiations with the government.

"An inclusive and credible dialogue has started ... all opposition groups should be represented at the negotiating table," Lavrov said after meeting with UN Special envoy for Syria Staffan de Mistura.

Lavrov called on external players to work toward that end.

He also expressed Russia's support for negotiations on Syria's future in the so-called "Vienna format," a multilateral meeting attended by international peace brokers to initiate a diplomatic process toward a political settlement of the four-year brutal conflicts in the country.

Meanwhile, Lavrov voiced the hope that before the next international meeting in Vienna, parties concerned could come to an agreement on who should be treated as legitimate opposition in Syria and who should be considered terrorist groups like the Islamic State (IS).

On Tuesday, Russia confirmed that it had established contact with moderate Syrian opposition.

Friday's multilateral meeting in Vienna did not produce any agreement over Syrian President Bashar al-Assad's future. Moscow is opposed to Western position that Assad should go, warning that "regime change" in Syria could become a global-scale disaster.

Since Sept. 30, Russia has been conducting airstrikes in Syria at the request of the Syrian president.

The United States, which is leading an international campaign against the IS in Syria and Iraq, is opposed to Moscow's backing of Assad and has been criticizing Russia's airstrikes for targeting only Damascus' opponents. Endi