Sergei Rudskoy, head of the Russian General Staff's main operations command, speaks during a news briefing on the situation in Syria, at the Russian Defense Ministry in Moscow, Russia, September 12, 2016. REUTERS/Maxim Zmeyev

MOSCOW (Reuters) - The Russian Defense Ministry called on the Free Syrian Army to stop fighting Kurdish units in the run-up to a cessation of hostilities in Syria and said it was considering a Syrian military request to supply ceasefire monitoring gear.

The ministry made its comments in a Moscow news conference after an emboldened President Bashar al-Assad vowed to take back all of Syria, hours before the start of a Russian and American-backed ceasefire, which Assad’s opponents described as stacked in his favor.

The Russian Defense Ministry said the ceasefire, which it said would start at 1600 GMT, would be monitored using drones and that the Syrian army had said it was ready to diligently do its bit to uphold the agreement.

Lieutenant-General Sergei Rudskoi, a senior Russian Defense Ministry official, said Moscow was considering a Syrian military request to supply equipment that would allow Damascus to monitor artillery fire in and around Aleppo.

The ministry said Moscow would continue its own air strikes against Islamic State and the militant group formerly known as Nusra Front.

It said a joint U.S.-Russian coordination center was being set up to determine Russian and U.S.-led coalition targets.