23 February 2017, 12:02 GMT
ALMATY (Sputnik) — The ceasefire-monitoring mechanism in Syria that was formed at Astana talks last month has laid the foundation toward resuming UN-backed negotiations in Geneva, Russian President Vladimir Putin said Monday.
"A mechanism to monitor the ceasefire has been established. That is in fact the most important foundation which provided the opportunity to continue the Geneva talks," Putin said.
He thanked Kazakh President Nursultan Nazarbayev for organizing the Astana talks, saying Kazakhstan "has played a very positive role not only as a host and organizer of this event, but also influenced on the positive results of the meeting in Astana."
