Russia will remove landmines from the ancient sites of the Syrian city of Palmyra.
President Vladimir Putin said on Tuesday he got the approval in phone calls with UNESCO's Director General Irina Bokova and Syrian President Bashar al-Assad, the Interfax news agency reports.
The central Syrian city of Palmyra, built on an oasis, is a UNESCO World Heritage Site with monuments thousands of years old.
Last week, Russia's military helped Syrian state forces liberate the city from the terrorist group Islamic State, which had occupied it for almost a year and blown up many monuments pre-dating the Muslim prophet Mohammed.
Syria's Directorate-General of Antiquities and Museums is optimistic that the destroyed ancient sites, which include the temples of Bel and Baal-Shamin, can be rebuilt within five years.
"More than 80 per cent of the antiquities in the territory of the museum preserve have survived and are in a satisfactory condition," the directorate said in comments carried by Russian state news agency TASS.
The head of UNESCO's emergency response unit, Giovanni Boccardi, said that the UN cultural organisation has provided 2.7 million euros ($A4.01 million) of funding for restoration.
"First we need to know the damage. There are many sites that have been destroyed, not only in Palmyra. And there are other countries.
"We haven't even talked about Iraq," Boccardi said.
Russia's prestigious Hermitage Museum in St Petersburg, which has a sizeable collection of artefacts from Palmyra, has offered to help restore the city's ancient sites.
On Monday, Russia's cultural envoy Mikhail Shvydkoi said his country will "definitely perform restoration of Palmyra".
Other European officials have joined the call for the restoration of Palmyra.
London Mayor Boris Johnson told local media that Britain should help rebuild Palmyra as compensation for the country's "ineffective" response to the Syria crisis.
Italy's Culture Minister Dario Franceschini said his country is ready to help in Palmyra.
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