Syrian President Meets Trump at UN, Pushes for End to Sanctions

Syrian President Ahmed Al-Sharaa met U.S. President Donald Trump on the sidelines of the UN General Assembly in New York, Syria’s state news agency SANA reported Thursday. A photo released by SANA showed the leaders shaking hands with First Lady Melania Trump present. It marked their second encounter after meeting in Riyadh in May.

Al-Sharaa also held talks with U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio earlier in the week, continuing efforts to normalize ties with the West after ending nearly 14 years of civil war by ousting Bashar Assad in December. His attendance at the UN gathering was the first by a Syrian leader since 1967.

A former Al-Qaeda militant and ex-leader of Hayat Tahrir al-Sham, Al-Sharaa has faced skepticism abroad but has been welcomed after the Trump administration lifted terrorism designations and eased sanctions. He praised Trump’s “bold decision” on sanctions relief, though urged a full removal, saying Syrians “should not be killed another time through the sanctions.”

Talks in New York included counterterrorism cooperation, missing Americans, and possible Israel-Syria security arrangements. Al-Sharaa said Syria was unlikely to join the Abraham Accords, citing decades of Israeli airstrikes, but confirmed negotiations were underway to restore the 1974 truce.

For the first time in six decades, he added, Syria has allowed international fact-finding teams into the country and pledged accountability for wartime abuses: “The Syrian state will work on accountability against those found guilty even if they were the closest people to us.”