Turkey and Russia agree terms of Syria ceasefire, state media reports

Meeting in Ankara reportedly brokers ceasefire terms to come into effect from midnight. Kremlin refuses to comment.

Russian and Turkish representatives have reportedly already agreed terms of a Syria ceasefire (AFP/Getty Images)

Turkish and Russian governments have agreed the terms of a ceasefire in Syria, state media in Turkey has reported.

The Turkish foreign minister Mevlüt Çavuşoğlu held a meeting yesterday in Ankara between Syrian opposition and the regime aimed at establishing a "permanent" solution to the ongoing crisis, according to Russian news agencies.

A Syria civil war ceasefire will now come into effect after midnight, according to the pro-Turkish government Anadolu Agency which reportedly quotes unnamed sources.

The agency said that terror groups, without mentioning which ones, will be not be part of the agreement.

It also reported that the peace process will go ahead in the Kazakhstan capital of Astana, supervised by Turkish and Russian leadership, if the ceasefire holds.

Mr Çavuşoğlu has since said it would be "impossible" to involve Pressident Bashar al-Assad in any transition to peace, as the country's opposition will not accept him.

The Kremlin meanwhile said it could not comment, and its spokesman Dmitry Peskov told reporters: "I cannot answer that question right now. I don't have sufficient information.

"We are constantly in touch with our Turkish colleagues to discuss various details about the possible talks that are planned for Astana. This is all being done to search for a political resolution for Syria."

Russia, Iran and Turkey said last week they were ready to help broker a peace deal after holding talks in Moscow.

It follows the evacuation of an estimated 34,000 from the battered city of Aleppo earlier this month.

A failed ceasefire in September, brokered by the US and Russia, quickly failed as the Syrian government continued bombing rebel-held hotspots.

The war in Syria, prompted by the 2011 Arab Spring and President Bashar al-Assad's violent reaction to protests, has killed potentially more than 430,000, according to the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, and an estimated 11 million Syrians have fled their homes since March 2011.

Around one million Syrians have requested asylum to Europe, including 300,000 applications to Germany, according to the European University Institute in Florence.