Syrian soldiers
© Mikhail Voskresenskiy / Sputnik
Syrian government forces have suspended "active military activities" against militants in eastern Aleppo to enable the withdrawal of civilians from the city, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov has announced while speaking in Hamburg, Germany.

Lavrov was speaking on Thursday on the sidelines of a meeting of ministers from the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE).

The Russian foreign minister also urged the UN special envoy to Syria, Staffan de Mistura, to "stop sabotaging" the Geneva Syria peace talks.

Lavrov added that it had been agreed that Russian and US military experts would meet in Geneva, Switzerland, on Saturday.

Speaking to reporters, he also expressed hope that those responsible for the recent attack on a Russian mobile hospital in western Aleppo will be brought to justice. The assault happened earlier this week and left two female paramedics dead and one chief pediatrician severely injured.

On Thursday, Lavrov also met with his US counterpart John Kerry, and later in the day held a telephone call with him. Resolving the Syrian issue was at the center of these talks, the Russian Foreign Ministry announced. In particular, the officials discussed ways to increase joint work between military experts from both countries.