Russian President Vladimir Putin and his Turkish counterpart Tayyip Erdogan arrive for a joint news conference following their meeting in Istanbul, Turkey, October 10, 2016. REUTERS/Osman Orsal

MOSCOW (Reuters) - Russian President Vladimir Putin and his Turkish counterpart Tayyip Erdogan agreed in a phone call on Thursday to step up military coordination against Islamic State in Syria, the Kremlin said in a statement.

It did not provide any details, but said Putin had expressed his condolences to Erdogan over the death of several Turkish soldiers killed near the Islamic State-held city of al-Bab in northern Syria.

Turkish-backed Syrian opposition fighters resumed a major offensive inside the city on Thursday, a day after they broke through IS defenses in its remaining stronghold in Aleppo province.

The Kremlin said Putin and Erdogan had also agreed to actively try to advance the Astana and Geneva peace talks on Syria and had discussed preparations for a meeting of the two countries in Russia in March.