Putin and US President Barack Obama spoke on the phone on Monday, with the Kremlin saying the two leaders “called for an intensification of the process for a political settlement” to the conflict.
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He said Russian Federation had pledged to continue support for Syria in “confronting terrorism”.
Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said Putin had telephoned the Syrian president to inform him of the decision, but the two leaders had not discussed Assad’s future, the biggest obstacle to reaching a peace agreement.
Military specialists who train the Syrian army will stay in Syria, Ozerov said.
The United States estimates there were between 3,000 and 6,000 Russian troops in Syria before the beginning of the current drawdown.
The images, broadcast on the Rossiya 24 TV station, showed personnel loading equipment onto Ilyushin Il-76 heavy lift transport aircraft at Russia’s Hmeymim air base in Latakia province.
The U.N. special envoy for Syria called Putin’s announcement a “significant development”.
A White House statement said Obama welcomed Russia’s move, but also noted continued sporadic violence and urged Putin to pressure the Syrian regime to stop offensive actions that could undermine the fragile truce.
Putin announced the withdrawal of most of the Russian forces from Syria on Monday, just hours after de Mistura had reconvened indirect peace talks between representatives of Syrian President Bashar Assad’s government and those of the so-called moderate opposition.
But Bondarev said that “there was not one bombing that was not on target, not one bombing of sensitive objects”, according to Russian news agencies.
The announcement of Russia’s withdrawal, which was released at about 8 p.m.in Moscow, led most evening news bulletins.
A temporary ceasefire between Assad’s forces and opponents has largely held since February 27, but it does not cover Al-Nusra Front and the Islamic State group.
But even as Russian servicemen began to prepare for the long journey back to their home airbases, some limits on the withdrawal were already taking shape.
The pullout was “in accordance with the situation on the ground”, the statement said.
In Damascus, the Syrian presidency said Assad had agreed to the reduction in the Russian air force presence after it had helped the Syrian army to make military gains.
Meanwhile, the UN Commission of Inquiry on Syria will present its report on war crimes committed by all sides in Syria’s war to the UN Human Rights Council on Tuesday in Geneva.
Thousands of Hezbollah fighters are now estimated to be in Syria.
He said there was no “plan B” should the talks fail, with the only alternative a return to war.
“What is the real issue – the mother of all issues?”
Both Putin and Assad hoped the intra-Syrian talks in Geneva, which starts Monday under the United Nations auspices, could bring concrete results, while the latter stressed his readiness to start political process in Syria as soon as possible.
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Not all Russian troops will be leaving the war-torn country.
