Russian President Vladimir Putin says the country would now make efforts to pave the way for a “nationwide” ceasefire in Syria after the liberation of Aleppo from Takfiri militants.
Speaking at a news conference with Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe during a visit to Japan on Friday, Putin said that he had agreed with Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan to hold peace talks on Syria in Kazakhstan's capital, Astana.
The talks would be in addition to UN-brokered talks that have been taking place intermittently in Geneva, Putin told reporters.
Earlier in the day, Russia’s Defense Ministry said an operation to evacuate civilians and militants from the eastern part of Syria’s second city of Aleppo continues.
The evacuation process is part of a peace deal brokered by Russia and Turkey on the situation in Aleppo.
It said more than 6,400 people, including more than 3,000 militants, had been evacuated over the past 24 hours under the deal.
Footage showed buses waiting to take more people out of the city, which was recently restored to full government control thanks to a determined push which had started in November.
Turkish official also said close to 8,000 civilians had been evacuated from Aleppo. One said a sixth convoy had left the city.
The International Committee of the Red Cross, however, said the evacuation operation, which started on Tuesday, could take days.
In a video message to Syrians, President Bashar al-Assad said the liberation of Aleppo from the foreign backed-militants was “history in the making.”
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