Russian President Vladimir Putin will meet Syrian mediator Kofi Annan on Tuesday in the hopes of giving a diplomatic boost to his tattered peace plan for the deadly Syrian crisis, the Kremlin said Sunday. The Russian leader’s press service said the UN-Arab League envoy would arrive in Moscow on Monday and meet Putin the following day for talks in which “Russia will underscore its support the peace plan of Kofi Annan.” Activists claim over 17,000 people have been killed since Syrian President Bashar al-Assad began a brutal crackdown on a pro-democracy uprising almost 17 months ago.