Russia's Defence Ministry and Syria's opposition have agreed to create a new "de-escalation" zone north of the city of Homs, the ministry spokesman, Igor Konashenkov, was shown saying on Russia's state Rossiya 24 TV channel on Thursday, August 3, according to Reuters.

A ceasefire in this area is set to take affect at 1200 (0900 GMT) on Thursday, he said.

The new de-escalation zone will include 84 settlements populated by more than 147,000 people, Konashenkov said.