The Russian foreign minister says the domestic Syrian opposition has acknowledged that there is a certain need to change the status quo in the Arab country in a bid to curb the advance of Takfiri terrorist groups.

On Friday, Sergei Lavrov met with senior Syrian opposition leader Haytham Manna in the Russian capital city of Moscow.

During the meeting, Lavrov pointed to numerous visits by the representatives of the Syrian opposition, saying, however, that “the difference from the earlier contacts is that we are meeting on the background of the understanding that keeping [the] status quo in Syria and in the region is unacceptable.”

Russia’s top diplomat stressed that the anti-terror agenda now tops the priorities of all parties to the Syrian crisis, including the opposition groups.

“It is clear for everyone, even for those who used to doubt the main target is to prevent the terrorists from seizing new territories. A common anti-terror objective is on the foreground now,” he went on to say.

Lavrov also said that regional and world powers are now trying to “ensure the unification of all opposition forces [in Syria] as soon as possible,” adding that the future Syria needs to be “a united country, where all ethnic and confessional groups feel protected.”

Manna, for his part, voiced his support for Moscow’s political initiative to end the deadly conflict in Syria, saying that “a military solution cannot bring anything but violence.”

The opposition figure also urged all sides to contribute to the political process in Syria.

“It is necessary to begin a process of preparing Geneva III, and beginning of the process will offer new opportunities to the Syrian people,” he asserted.

This is while the Western-backed Geneva I and Geneva II peace conferences on Syria, which were respectively held in June 2012 and February 2014, failed to deliver any practical results.

Syria has been fighting against a massive foreign-sponsored militancy since early 2011. The conflict has reportedly killed an estimated 240,000 people so far, including nearly 12,000 children.