"I think that it is an important and symbolic step which gives a hope for a new quality level in the negotiation process," Lavrentiev told reporters.
"The level of distrust that we have observed went down considerably, and they [Syrian opposition] finally understood that they are dealing with a reliable partner in the face of the Russian Federation," Lavrentiev told reporters, commenting on the meeting with the opposition earlier in the day.
"Despite high tension at the beginning, the parties managed to demonstrate a sensible approach and tried to avoid the actions which could lead to the failure of the this very important international event, in our opinion," he added.
No direct talks between the delegation of the Syrian government and the delegation of the Syrian opposition took place during the first day of negotiations in Kazakhstan's Astana, he said.
"Despite the fact that we were not able to organize direct talks between the two Syrian delegations sitting at one table in the framework of this forum, however, it is noteworthy that they were both present at the [talks] opening… listened to the statements addressed to them and refrained… from some drastic actions to one another. I think this is a very positive thing," Lavrentiev told reporters.
The head of the Russian delegation at the Syria talks in Astana said he expected good results at the end of the second day of the negotiations.
"These issues are related to such relevant topics as the ceasefire regime, the separation from Daesh and al-Nusra Front and joint fight against terrorism."
Lavrientiev added that the negotiations would resume at 10 a.m. local time (07:00 GMT).
The Syrian settlement talks in Kazakhstan's capital brokered by Moscow, Ankara and Tehran, started on Monday and are expected to last through Tuesday. The talks brought together the delegation of the Syrian government and representatives of armed opposition groups for the first time since the beginning of the civil war in Syria in 2011.
