Talks on consolidating the Syrian cease-fire held in Kazakhstan this year helped jumpstart the United Nations-led peace negotiations in Geneva, Russian President Vladimir Putin said Monday.
At the first round of the talks in the Kazakh capital Astana in January, Russia and Iran, allies of Syrian President Bashar Assad, and Turkey, an Assad opponent, reaffirmed a shaky cease-fire between insurgents and the Syrian government.
"A mechanism to control the cease-fire has been created, which is the most important thing," Putin told reporters during a visit to Kazakhstan.
"This is the foundation that has allowed the Geneva negotiations to resume."
The Astana cease-fire has been repeatedly been violated, while the war with extremist groups such as ISIS – which are not included under the cease-fire – has raged on.
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