GENEVA (Reuters) - U.N. Syria envoy Staffan de Mistura welcomed the announcement of a Syria ceasefire deal on Thursday and said he hoped it would save civilian lives, enable the delivery of aid and lead to productive peace talks in Astana.

“These developments should (also) contribute to inclusive and productive intra-Syrian negotiations to be convened under U.N. auspices on 8 February 2017,” de Mistura’s spokeswoman said in a statement.