Sputnik- Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov and his Turkish counterpart Mevlut Cavusoglu discussed in a phone call on Monday the preparation for the upcoming international consultations on Syria peace process in Kazakh capital, Astana, the Russian Foreign Ministry said.

MOSCOW (Sputnik) — The Astana talks are scheduled to be held next Monday, January 23, followed by an anticipated round of intra-Syrian negotiations in Geneva on February 8. Earlier in the day, a political adviser to the UN special envoy for Syria told Sputnik that the Astana talks may be postponed.

"The ministers exchanged opinions the situation in Syria, stressing the need for strict implementation of the ceasefire in the country established with mediation of Russia and Turkey," the ministry said in a statement. "The sides also discussed practical issues of the preparation of an international meeting on the Syrian crisis settlement in Astana considering the results of the January 13 consultations between Russia, Turkey, and Iran in Moscow," the statement said. On December 17, 2016, Russian President Vladimir Putin and Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan discussed in a phone call the possibility of a meeting between the Syrian conflicting parties in Astana. Kazakh President Nursultan Nazarbayev supported the initiative and expressed readiness to provide a platform for such talks in the Kazakh capital.