MOSCOW: Russia's pointman on Syria will meet his US counterpart and UN-Arab League envoy Lakhdar Brahimi in London on Thursday to discuss the raging Syria crisis, a top official said.

"There is an understanding in principle for Mr (Mikhail) Bogdanov to meet in London on the sidelines of the Friends of Yemen meeting with US Deputy Secretary of State William Burns and UN-Arab League special representative on Syria Lakhdar Brahimi," Russian foreign ministry spokesman Alexander Lukashevich said.

Sometimes referred to as "the three Bs," Burns, Brahimi and Bogdanov have held a series of meetings since November aimed at establishing dialogue between President Bashar al-Assad's government and the armed opposition.

Russia is upset with Washington's decision to step up its non-military support for the armed rebels, and continues to resist calls on Assad to step down before talks could get underway.

President Vladimir Putin's spokesman Dmitry Peskov said on Wednesday that Moscow was currently studying a new French proposal on a possible Syrian transition, without disclosing its details.