Syria's government agreed on Tuesday (November 28th) to a ceasefire in opposition-held Eastern Ghouta, following days of heavy bombardment, AFP reported.

"Russia has proposed and the government has accepted a ceasefire in Eastern Ghouta," UN envoy to Syria Staffan de Mistura told reporters in Geneva, where an eighth round of peace talks aimed at ending the Syrian conflict was getting underway.

De Mistura said he learned of the proposal from a Russian envoy during a meeting of ambassadors from Security Council permanent representatives -- Britain, France, China, Russia and the US -- earlier on Tuesday.

Eastern Ghouta, located to the east of Damascus, is one of the last remaining opposition strongholds in Syria, and is part of one of four so-called "de-escalation zones" in place across the country to reduce violence.

It has been under siege since 2013 but in recent weeks violence has increased considerably, with deadly government airstrikes and artillery fire across the region, and opposition fire from the area into the capital.

A convoy carrying food and medical aid entered Eastern Ghouta on Tuesday, the UN said, in a rare humanitarian delivery that comes after days of heavy bombardment.

The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said airstrikes continued Tuesday, hitting the town of Hammuriyeh shortly before the aid convoy entered the region.

The UN's Office for the Co-ordination of Humanitarian Affairs tweeted that the joint convoy had "entered Nashabieh in besieged East Ghouta to deliver food, health and nutrition items for 7,200 people in need".

OCHA spokeswoman Linda Tom said the convoy included "nutrition items and medications to treat malnutrition".

"And the health items include several medications for trauma treatments but not surgical items," she said.

"Our teams are not part of any medical evacuation," she added.