Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said today that his country has stepped up preparations with Turkey and Iran for holding negotiations on settlement of Syrian conflict in Astana.

    Lavrov said during a meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin and Minister of Defense Sergey Shoygu that Russia, together with the Turkish and Iranian sides, have started preparations for Astana meeting.

    For his part, the Russian Minister of Defense said today that the ceasefire in Syria will start at midnight. He added that Russian have established a hotline with Turkey to follow up the implementation of the ceasefire.

    Putin had announced earlier today that the sides involved in the Syrian crisis have reached an ceasefire agreement. Putin also said he signed three documents on Thursday, the first is between the Syrian Government and armed opposition on cessation of fire on the territory of the country. The second document outlines the set of measures to control the cease-fire regime. The third and final document is a statement of intention to begin peace talks for settlement of the Syrian conflict.

Source: QNA