24 January 2017•Update: 25 January 2017
By Diyar Guldogan
ANKARA
Russian and Turkish foreign ministers spoke over the phone Tuesday about the ongoing intra-Syrian peace talks in Kazakhstan's capital, Astana, Russia's foreign ministry said.
Sergey Lavrov and his Turkish counterpart Mevlut Cavusoglu "stressed the importance of establishing direct contacts between the Syrian government and representatives of the armed opposition to strengthen the cease-fire," the statement said.
The ministers agreed to continue to work with the parties in the Astana talks to facilitate a "successful" conclusion, it added.
The ministers also agreed on getting "ready" for the resumption of Syria talks in Geneva, Switzerland.
Tuesday's phone call came on the second day of peace talks aimed at ending the Syria conflict.
The talks, which focus on extending the cease-fire that came into effect on Dec. 30, 2016, have been brokered by Turkey, which backs the opposition, and Russia and Iran, who support Bashar al-Assad’s regime.
