Putin calls Assad to congratulate him on Aleppo ‘liberation’

‘Success was possible thanks to efforts of all who came together in fight with international terrorism in Syria,’ says Russian leader

By AFP 23 December 2016, 10:08 pm

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File: Russian President Vladimir Putin, center, shakes hand with Syrian President Bashar Assad as Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov, right, looks on in the Kremlin in Moscow, Russia, Tuesday, October 20, 2015. (Alexei Druzhinin, Sputnik, Kremlin Pool Photo via AP, File)

MOSCOW — Russian President Vladimir Putin called Syria’s Bashar Assad Friday to congratulate him on completing the “liberation” of Aleppo, the Kremlin said.

“Russian President Vladimir Putin phoned the Syrian President Bashar Assad and congratulated him with the end of the operation of liberation of Aleppo from fighters,” it said in a statement.

“This success was possible thanks to mutual efforts of all who came together in the fight with international terrorism in Syria,” it said.

Putin last called Assad in March, according to the Kremlin.

The statement added that Putin “underlined that the main task remains to focus efforts on issues pertaining to the… resolution of the Syrian crisis”.

Earlier, Putin hailed Aleppo’s recapture, calling it a “very important part of the normalization in Syria”, saying the next step would be “conclusion of a ceasefire agreement on all of Syria’s territory.”

The Kremlin strongman said at his annual press conference Friday that Russia wanted ceasefire talks to take place in Kazakhstan’s capital Astana, as the location had already been approved by Assad as well as the leaders of the other power brokers in the Syrian conflict — Iran and Turkey.