By Aliia Raimbekova
ASTANA, Kazakhstan (AA) - Russia, Turkey and Iran signed a deal in the Kazakh capital, Astana, on Thursday to establish de-escalation zones in Syria.
Kazakh Foreign Minister Kairat Abdrakhmanov said the guarantor countries arrived at the decision following their talks.
The Astana talks, which were first convened in January, ran alongside the UN-backed discussions in Geneva.
Turkey, which backs the Syrian opposition, joined the Bashar al-Assad regime's allies Russia and Iran in sponsoring the negotiations after the assault on the Syrian city of Aleppo in December.
Syria has been locked in civil war since March 2011. According to the UN, around 400,000 people have died in the conflict while half the population has been driven away from their homes.