US State Secy Marco Rubio Meets Syrian President, Holds Talks on Sanctions Relief

US Secretary of State Marco Rubio on Tuesday held discussions with Syrian President Ahmad Hussein al-Sharaa, also known by his former nom de guerre Abu Mohammad al-Julani, on sanctions relief and the importance of Israel-Syria relations.

In a post on X, Rubio said: “I met with Syrian President al-Sharaa about our shared goals for a stable and sovereign Syria and ongoing efforts to bring security and prosperity to all Syrians. We also discussed implementing President Trump’s historic announcement on sanctions relief and the importance of Israel-Syria relations.”

Syrian President Ahmad Hussein al-Sharaa on Monday became the first Syrian leader to address the United Nations General Assembly (UNGA) in over 60 years.

Al-Sharaa arrived in New York on

Sunday, leading a large delegation of Syrian officials, in what state media described as a “landmark trip”, Al Jazeera reported.

His attendance at the 80th session of UNGA comes after Bashar al-Assad’s ouster in December 2024, ending the Assad family’s 50-year rule.

Al-Sharaa had a meeting with United States President Donald Trump in May, the first such encounter between a Syrian president and a US president in 25 years, at a summit of the Gulf Cooperation Council, alongside Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman. At the meeting, Trump said the US would drop all sanctions on Syria, which he subsequently did, and added that Washington was “exploring normalising relations with Syria’s new government”.