The UN Security council has approved a resolution urging the immediate deployment of UN monitors to watch over the mass evacuations in Aleppo and "the wellbeing of civilians" remaining in the Syrian city.
UN officials said more than 100 UN humanitarian staff already on the ground in Aleppo, most of them Syrian nationals, could be used in that role.
France's UN Ambassador Francois Delattre said the goal of the resolution is "to avoid new mass atrocities by the forces on the ground and the militias in particular." But thousands of people have already been evacuated from the city and the operation could be completed before the observers arrive.
The departure of the last rebels from Aleppo would close another chapter in Syria's civil war and would give President Bashar Assad a significant symbolic and strategic victory.
Almost six years after the outbreak of an armed rebellion against Assad, the Syrian leader will be in charge again of the country's five largest cities and the Mediterranean coast.
The presidents of Russia and Iran spoke by phone Monday to discuss the next moves. The Kremlin said Vladimir Putin and Hassan Rouhani "underlined the need for joint efforts to launch a real political process aimed at a quick settlement in Syria."
The conversation came a day before a scheduled meeting of foreign and defence ministers of Russia, Turkey and Iran in Moscow. Russia and Iran have backed Assad, while Turkey has supported the opposition.
The UN special envoy for Syria, Staffan De Mistura, welcomed the Moscow meeting and any effort that results in a cessation of hostilities.
He announced that the United Nations hopes to arrange negotiations between the government and opposition in Geneva on February 8.
