Syrian military personnel are seen in the town of Tal Toukan, the countryside of Idlib province in northwestern Syria on Feb. 5, 2020. (Str/Xinhua)

Russian Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu discussed measures to stabilize the situation in Syria's Idlib with his Turkish counterpart Hulusi Akar during a phone conversation at the initiative of the Turkish side, the Russian Defense Ministry said in a statement Tuesday.

"Issues related to the implementation of the additional protocol to the Memorandum on the stabilization of the situation in the Idlib de-escalation zone (adopted in Moscow on March 5, 2020) were discussed," according to the statement made available to Xinhua.

Russia and Turkey agreed Thursday on a ceasefire in the de-escalation zone in Idlib, after talks between Russian President Vladimir Putin and Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan in Moscow which lasted for about six hours.

The agreement came after direct confrontation between Turkey and Syrian forces which took place several times in Idlib over the past two months since the Syrian forces launched a campaign against the Turkey-backed rebel groups in Idlib late last year.