Syrian army announces nationwide ceasefire

Russian President Vladimir Putin said on Thursday that Syrian opposition groups and the Syrian government had signed a number of documents including a ceasefire deal that would take effect at midnight on the night of Dec. 29-30.

He also said that Russia had agreed to reduce its military deployment in Syria.

Also, the Syrian army announced on Thursday a nationwide halt to fighting to begin at midnight, in a move designed to pave the way for a political solution to end the country's six-year-old war.

In a statement carried by Syrian state news agency SANA, the army said the ceasefire will begin at 0000 on Dec. 30.

State TV says the cease-fire paves the way for reactivating negotiations to end the conflict.

It says the ceasefire comes after the "successes achieved by the armed forces," an apparent reference to the capture of rebel-held neighbourhoods of Aleppo earlier this month.

Russian President Vladimir Putin said Thursday that Russia and Turkey will guarantee the truce. Russia is a key ally of Syrian President Bashar Assad, while Turkey supports the opposition.

Putin didn't say how many troops and weapons will be withdrawn from Syria. He said Russia will continue "fighting international terrorism in Syria" and supporting Assad's military.

Putin also said that the Russian military will maintain its presence at both an air base in Syria's coastal province of Latakia and the naval facility in the Syrian port of Tartus.

The ceasefire is to be followed by renewed peace negotiations to end the nearly six-year conflict.

Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov says Egypt will be invited to join the process, and that Saudi Arabia, Qatar and Jordan could eventually join as well.

Turkey and Russia will act as guarantors of a nationwide ceasefire in Syria that is due to go into effect at midnight, Turkey's foreign ministry said on Thursday.

Ankara said the ceasefire agreement excluded groups deemed as terrorists by the U.N. Security Council and noted the importance of support from countries influential on the fighting sides.

"With this agreement, parties have agreed to cease all armed attacks, including aerial, and have promised not to expand the areas they control against each other," the foreign ministry said in a statement.

Representatives from the Syrian government and the opposition will meet in Astana, Kazakhstan in the supervision of guarantor countries soon, the statement added.