"NATO strongly supports the initiative and new efforts to find a political solution to the crisis in Syria, and I welcome that Russia is part of that, and I welcome is Russia is sitting down with many other nations to try to find a political solution," Stoltenberg told reporters.
He added that "Russia can play a constructive role in Syria," claiming, however, that most of Russia's military action so far has been directed at areas not controlled by the Islamic State.
Syria has been in a civil war since 2011. The country’s government is fighting a number of opposition groups as well as radical Islamist militant organizations, including the Nusra Front and Islamic State (IS).
Moscow has been actively involved in trying to find a political solution to the Syrian war and hosted two rounds of intra-Syrian talks in 2015 bringing the government and opposition forces together at the negotiation table.
On Saturday, Russia participated in a fresh round of international talks on Syrian reconciliation in Vienna, agreeing that the country's future, as well as the future of President Bashar Assad must be decided by Syrian people.
Russian jets commenced precision airstrikes against IS in Syria on September 30, following a request from Syrian President Bashar Assad. According to the Russian military, all their targets are chosen based on intelligence collected by Russia, Syria, Iraq and Iran.
