The United States President Donald Trump said Washington is considering the normalization of links with Damascus after meeting the acting president of Syria, Ahmed Al-Sharaa, during the first meeting of this type between leaders of the two nations in 25 years.
Trump made this announcement on Wednesday at a meeting with the leaders of the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) in the capital of Saudi Arabia, Riyadh, during which he also declared that the United States would abandon “all sanctions” against Syria.
“With the support of the big leaders in this room, we are currently exploring normalization relations with the new government of Syria,” said Trump, confirming his brief meeting with Al-Sharaa.
The “cessation of sanctions” will give Syria a “new start,” said Trump.
“We are going to abandon all the sanctions.”
Trump met Al-Sharaa, who once promised allegiance to Al-Qaeda and swept power in Syria at the head of a group of opposition fighters, in front of a summit between the United States and the Arab Gulf countries.
Photos published on the media of the Saudi state have shown their hands in the presence of the crown prince of Saudi Arabia Mohammed Bin Salman, also known as MBS.
Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan joined Trump and MBS practically at the meeting, the Anadoli news agency in Turkiye reported.
In a statement, the White House said that at the meeting, Trump asked Al-Sharaa to expel the Palestinians that he described “terrorists”, to “connect the Abraham agreements with Israel” and to “assume the responsibility of the Islamic State detention centers in northeast Syria”.
Trump on Tuesday evening announced that he was raising sanctions against the country beaten by the war, praising Arab leaders and celebrations in the streets of Syria.
Trump’s commitment to lift sanctions could be a major turning point for a country that still adapts to life after more than 50 years of rule of the Al-Assad family.
Bashar al-Assad was overthrown in December after a lightning offensive by the opposition rebels led by the Al-Sharaa forces.
Speaking in an address to the nation after its return to Syria from Saudi Arabia on Wednesday, Al-Sharaa described Trump’s decision to raise sanctions as “courageous” and “courageous”, because it would help the Syrian people to have a better future and reach stability in the region “.
Hachem Ahelbarra of Al Jazeera, reporting from Riyadh, described Trump’s promise to raise all sanctions and his meeting with Al-Sharaa as important developments.
“This is a massive breakthrough, giving new authorities in Syria more legitimacy internationally,” said the correspondent.
He said Trump’s decision would likely open the way to the CCG to engage more financial assistance to the authorities in Syria, noting that US sanctions had previously prevented them from investing.
Imran Khan of Al Jazeera, reporting from Damascus, said that the meeting between Trump and Al-Sharaa, which lasted 33 minutes, was a major diplomatic breakthrough.
“For the first time in 25 years, a Syrian president met an American president. It is in itself very historical. ”
While the links between the United States and Syria are at a “summit of all time”, our correspondent said that it would be “very, very difficult” for Damascus to agree on Trump’s demand for Syria to connect to the Abraham agreements and normalize links with Israel.
Trump hopes to “conclude an agreement” with Iran
In other comments at the CCG meeting, Trump also said that he hoped to “conclude an agreement” with Iran which would prevent this country from developing a nuclear weapon, but insisted that Tehran should cease support for a network of armed groups throughout the region.
Trump said that Iran “should stop sponsoring terror, stop his bloody wars and permanently and verify the pursuit of nuclear weapons.”
Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi, who is also the main negotiator of a potential nuclear agreement with the United States, criticized Trump’s remarks as a “misleading”.
The Iranian Ministry of Foreign Affairs has confirmed that Iran will hold new discussions with European powers later this week about the Iranian nuclear program. The talks will take place in Istanbul, the capital of Turkiye, with the “E3” nations of Great Britain, France and Germany.
Later Wednesday, Trump went to the capital of Qatar Doha where a state visit with Emir Sheikh Tamim Bin Hamad Al Thani was underway.
Qatar, an ally of the United States, was to announce hundreds of billions of dollars in investment in the United States during the visit.
And while the state is visiting the injury, the White House announced that Qatar Airways would buy up to 210 American manufacturing boeing aircraft, in an agreement worth $ 96 billion.
Qatar has also said that it would invest in drone and counter-ground technologies with American companies Raytheon and the general atomic, according to the White House.
The first two days of Trump of a four-day swing in the Gulf region were marked by sumptuous ceremonies and commercial affairs, including a commitment of $ 600 billion in Saudi Arabia to invest in the United States and 142 billion dollars in American weapons in the kingdom.
After his visit to Qatar, Trump should go to Abu Dhabi to meet leaders of the United Arab Emirates on Thursday.
He should then return to Washington on Friday, but he said that he could go to Turkiye instead for a potential meeting between Russian President Vladimir Putin and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, in the midst of efforts to interrupt war in Ukraine.
