By Peter Spinella and Albert Otti

Moscow (dpa) - Russia should remove all of its soldiers stationed in Syria, opposition negotiators from the war-torn country demanded Tuesday at peace talks in Geneva.

Moscow has begun moving out military equipment and personnel from Syria but said it planned to keep 800 soldiers in the country for reconnaissance and facility protection duties.

"We want all foreign forces to leave Syria," opposition delegation spokesman Salim al-Muslat told reporters at the talks.

"We want friends and visitors, but not people who help to kill people," he added, referring to Russia's alliance with Syrian President Bashar al-Assad.

Russia began a bombing campaign against rebels in Syria in September to support al-Assad's regime. The US said Russia's aerial campaign targeted Western-backed rebels along with extremist groups such as the Islamic State.

Russian President Vladimir Putin declared Monday that the military would begin withdrawing most of its forces because their task had been "completely fulfilled."

Putin's spokesman said that the Russian president had made the decision to exit Syria without discussing it with other world leaders involved in the conflict, state news agency TASS reported.

The Kremlin said, however, that Putin had the consent of al-Assad to begin withdrawing the troops as a recently instated ceasefire in the country was largely holding.

"Russia's biggest risk in the Syria operation was to be dragged into a long-term military conflict. As we see, that did not happen," prominent Russian political analyst Yevgeny Minchenko told Interfax.

But some troops need to stay behind to protect Russia's airbase in the Syrian province of Latakia and its naval facility in the province of Tartus, the head of the upper house of parliament's defence committee, Viktor Ozerov, said.

"We also retain the right to conduct aerial reconnaissance, so some of the planes and flight teams will also stay," Ozerov said, according to Russia's Interfax news agency.

Russia could also maintain S-400 missile defence systems in Syria for additional defence, he said.

Al-Muslat, the opposition spokesman, said that all other foreign troops should also leave, without naming any countries.

Iranian fighters and members of the Lebanese Hezbollah milita are fighting alongside al-Assad's forces, while some Western and regional powers including the United States support rebel groups.

The UN Syria envoy, Staffan de Mistura, welcomed Russia's withdrawal.

He said it "is a significant development, which we hope will have a positive impact on the progress of the negotiations in Geneva aimed at achieving a political solution of the Syrian conflict and a peaceful political transition in the country."

In Brussels, the spokeswoman of EU foreign policy chief Federica Mogherini called it "very important for the overall peace process."

The current round of the peace talks started Monday, with de Mistura shuttling between the government and opposition delegations.

The stalled talks were resumed after Washington and Moscow had brokered agreements on a ceasefire and on humanitarian aid deliveries.