Turkey's Erdogan, Russia's Putin held talks on phone over Syria ceasefire: spokesman

ANKARA (Reuters) - Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan had a telephone conversation with his Russian counterpart on Thursday to discuss the ceasefire in Syria due to come into effect at midnight, Erdogan's spokesman said in a statement.

The leaders also discussed upcoming talks about Syria due to take place in the Kazakh capital Astana, spokesman Ibrahim Kalin said in the statement.

Russian President Vladimir Putin announced a ceasefire between Syrian opposition groups and the Syrian government starting at midnight on Thursday. The Kremlin statement came after Moscow, Iran and Turkey said they were ready to broker a peace deal in the nearly six-year-old Syrian war.

(Reporting by Tulay Karadeniz; Writing by Humeyra Pamuk; Editing by Elaine Hardcastle)