MOSCOW. Feb 16 (Interfax) - Syrian government forces and moderate opposition groups are no longer engaged in direct armed clashes in Syria, Russian Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu said.
"We are seeing a serious drop in the number of shelling incidents. Direct armed clashes have been brought to an end completely," Shoigu said at a meeting with UN Special Envoy for Syria Staffan de Mistura in Moscow on Thursday.
"We hope that a constructive dialogue with the opposition will continue to normalize," Shoigu said in commenting on the situation in Syria.
"Today we are observing what has eventually been achieved after December 29 - this picture is much better that the previous one," the Russian defense minister said.
A new truce, brokered with the help of Russia and Turkey, was put in place in Syria at the end of December 2016. A Russian-Turkish commission has been monitoring compliance with this ceasefire, which, however, does not apply to the Islamic State and Jabhat al-Nusra terrorist groups, outlawed in Russia.