BEIRUT, December 23. /TASS/. The liberation of Aleppo "has opened the door for political work in Syria," Syrian President Bashar Assad said in a telephone conversation with his Russia counterpart Vladimir Putin on Friday,

SANA news agency reported that Assad thanked Putin for the efforts that Russia had made to liberate the city of Aleppo. This success "will encourage many, who earlier hampered the political settlement in Syria, to join the process and work on national reconciliation," the Syrian president said.

The Kremlin press service earlier reported Putin held a telephone conversation with Assad and congratulated him on the end of the operation on liberating Aleppo from militants.