A Colombian soldier who had been held captive by the country's FARC militants was released on Sunday in an apparent goodwill gesture by the leftist guerilla, Agence France-Presse reported.

Cristian Moscoso Rivera was turned over to the International Committee of the Red Cross a day before a unilateral ceasefire declared by the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia was set to begin, the New York Times detailed.

Rivera had been held for nearly two weeks after he being captured during combat in southeastern Putumayo, on the Colombian border with Ecuador. The soldier served as part of a unit charged with securing a caravan of 12 trucks carrying crude, which the guerilla planned to spill between the towns of Mansoyá and Santana, El Universal recounted.

Before Rivera's release, the FARC had announced a month-long truce, which it said would begin at midnight on Sunday. The group issued a statement urging its troops to refrain from operations of an offensive nature against government forces and public or private infrastructure, AFP noted. Nevertheless, it insisted that no guerilla unit "is obliged to let itself be hit by enemy forces, and (its fighters) will have every right to exercise legitimate defense if attacked."

Peace talks between Bogotá and the rebels have been taking place since 2012 in Havana, but fighting between government forces and militants has continued and even intensified this year, the French newswire said. One Colombian soldier was killed in the incident that led to Rivera's capture, while two others were injured, El Universal added.

The unilateral truce, meanwhile, may be an effort to revive a peace process with which many Colombians have grown disillusioned, AFP judged. Bogotá thus has promised to scale back military operations during the ceasefire as both sides work toward a larger agreement to be overseen by the United Nations.

Colombian President Juan Manuel Santos, for his part, told El Tiempo newspaper that the most crucial step toward a deal would be for the rebels to accept punishment that will "deny them freedom," a condition the leader said was a prerequisite to any progress.