Russian President Vladimir Putin will meet with UN and Arab League envoy Kofi Annan in Moscow on July 17 to discuss the Syria crisis, the Kremlin press office said on Sunday, July 15.

“In the course of the visit, Russia intends to reaffirm its support for the peace plan proposed by Kofi Annan to settle the crisis in Syria by political and diplomatic means,” the press office said in a statement.

“Russia bases on the fact that this plan is the sole viable platform to solve internal Syrian problems,” the statement said.

Annan will arrive in Russia for a two-day visit on July 16-17.

“This is already the second visit by the special envoy to Moscow in the past four months,” the statement said, according to RIA Novosti.

The conflict, which began in March last year, has left between 13,000 and 17,000 people dead, according to Syrian rights activists quoted by the United Nations.