Ceasefire in northern Syria offers chance for peace - NATO chief

BRUSSELS, Oct 23 (Reuters) - The ceasefire in northeastern Syria brokered by the United States is a basis for a political solution to the conflict, NATO's secretary general said on Wednesday, although he declined to comment on a Russia-Turkey deal in Sochi.

"We have seen that it is possible to move towards a political solution. The first requirement ... is to stop the fighting," Jens Stoltenberg told a news conference a day before NATO defence ministers will discuss Syria at NATO headquarters.

"Then we need to move on, building on that, and have a real, negotiated, political solution in Syria," he said, adding that it was too early to judge the outcome of the Russia-Turkey agreement struck in the Black Sea resort of Sochi. (Reporting by Robin Emmott, editing by Marine Strauss)