Putin orders troop withdrawal from Syria

Russian President Vladimir Putin has ordered a pull out of "the main part" of his troops fighting in Syria.

The announcement came just hours after peace talks between the Syrian government and the opposition got under way in the Swiss city of Geneva on Monday. "The task presented to the defence ministry and the armed forces has been completely fulfilled," Putin told Defence Minister Sergey Shoigu, according to the state news agency TASS. "Thus, I order the defence minister to begin withdrawing the main part of our troops from the Syrian Arab Republic."

However, Russia's bases in Syria's Tartous and Khmeimim will continue their normal operations. "Our bases - the naval base in Tartous and the airbase at the Khmeimim airfield - will operate in a routine mode. They are to be safely protected from the land, from the sea and from air."

Putin said he hoped the withdrawal of Russian troops from Tuesday will be a stimulus for a political resolution of the conflict. "I hope today's decision will be a good signal for all conflicting parties. I hope it will sizeably increase trust of all participants in the process," he said.

"I ask the Russian foreign ministry to intensify Russia's participation in organising the peace process to solve the Syrian problem."

Shoigu said Russian forces have killed more than 2,000 rebel fighters, including 17 rebel leaders, since the start of the operation.

Dmitry Peskov, a Kremlin spokesman, said Putin discussed and coordinated the decision with his Syrian counterpart Bashar al-Assad. "Everything voiced at the meeting [of Putin, Sergey Lavrov, Russia's foreign minister, and Shoigu] was conveyed to our Syrian colleagues and coordinated with President Assad," Peskov said.