The Syrian army has halted attacks on Aleppo to allow civilians to escape, according to the Russian government.
Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said Bashar al Assad's forces had stopped airstrikes - despite the Syrian president saying earlier this week that he had rejected a plea from rebels to stop fighting.
According to Mr Lavrov, Mr Assad's position has changed.
Speaking following a meeting with US Secretary of State John Kerry in Germany, Mr Lavrov said: "I can tell you that today, combat operations by the Syrian army have been halted in eastern Aleppo because there is a large operation underway to evacuate civilians."
In an interview with Syrian daily Al-Watan, Mr Assad said the possibility of a truce in Aleppo was "practically non-existent, of course".
Damascus is yet to react to Mr Lavrov's announcement, but the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, a monitoring group, said fighting had eased following the deaths of 19 civilians on Wednesday.
An AFP correspondent in the east of the city backed up the claims, saying airstrikes had been halted and artillery fire was far less intense.
During a three-week offensive, government forces seized about 80% of east Aleppo, which has been a stronghold for rebel groups since 2012.
The US, UK and France have joined calls for a truce, warning of a "humanitarian catastrophe".
Overnight, more than 100 people who had been trapped amid heavy clashes in the city were taken to hospitals or shelters after being evacuated by Red Cross and Red Crescent aid workers.
Tens of thousands of children in Aleppo are "sitting targets" in the ongoing fighting, according to Save the Children Syria director Sonia Khush.
She said: "It defies belief that after nearly six years of suffering through this war, the international community is still willing to stand by as civilians are bombed with seeming impunity."
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