Washington, November 12. . US Secretary of State Marco Rubio met with the heads of the Turkish Foreign Ministry and the Syrian transitional government, Hakan Fidan and Asaad al-Sheibani, to discuss Syria's reconstruction and anti-terrorism efforts. This was reported in a statement issued on November 11 by Deputy Director of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs Press Service Tommy Pigott.
As he clarified, at the meeting they talked about “opportunities to strengthen regional security and efforts being made to fight terrorism”, including Syria's entry into the coalition against the terrorist group “Islamic State” (IS, banned in the Russian Federation).
“They also discussed the search for missing Americans in Syria. The Secretary of State emphasized that (US President Donald) Trump intends to give the Syrian people a chance at peace and prosperity, and noted the importance of regional cooperation to support the reconstruction of Syria,” the document said.
On November 10, Trump met with Syrian interim President Ahmed al-Sharaa at the White House. According to the Syrian leader's office, the parties discussed strengthening bilateral relations as well as regional and international issues of common concern. After the meeting between Trump and al-Sharaa, the US Treasury Department announced that Washington had suspended sanctions against Syria within the framework of the so-called Caesar Law, but kept in place the republic's ban on trade with Russia and Iran.
Trump signed an executive order on July 1 lifting the unilateral sanctions regime against Syria, however, the sanctions did not apply to former Syrian President Bashar al-Assad and those associated with him. In late November 2024, armed opposition groups launched a large-scale attack against Syrian army positions. On December 8, they entered Damascus, Assad resigned as president and left the country. Al-Sharaa became the de facto leader of Syria. On January 29, 2025, al-Shara'a declared himself acting president during a transition period that he designated would last four to five years.
