Syrian President arrives in the United States

Syrian transitional President Ahmed al Sharaa arrived in New York City on Sunday morning, for an official visit, the first of its kind by a Syrian president to the United States in more than 60 years.

He will participate in the 80th session of the United Nations General Assembly.

According to a statement issued by the Syrian Presidential Media Office, Sharaa’s visit will last for five days, during which he will discuss sensitive diplomatic issues, most notably the restoration of relations between Damascus and Washington, including the reopening of the Syrian embassy in the US capital.

Sharaa is the first Syrian president to participate in the General Assembly’s high-level week since former President Noureddine al Atassi in 1967, giving this visit a special political character and reflecting major transformations in the Syrian and international landscape.

Sharaa met with his US counterpart, Donald Trump, on May 14, in the first Syrian-US presidential meeting since Hafez al-Assad’s meeting with President Bill Clinton in 2000.

The meeting, which Trump described as great, coincided with the announcement of the lifting of sanctions imposed on Syria, a move seen as signaling the beginning of a new phase of political openness.

In remarks made during his trip to Qatar, Trump described Sharaa as a “true leader” and a “charismatic young fighter,” emphasizing that he has a real chance of preserving Syria’s unity and leading it toward stability.

The last official meeting between a Syrian president and his US counterpart was in March 2000, when Hafez al Assad met with President Bill Clinton at the Intercontinental Hotel in Geneva, a few months before Assad’s death in June of that year.

The meeting was preceded by another in January 1994, where the two sides discussed the possibility of Syria’s withdrawal from the Golan Heights and Lebanon in exchange for a comprehensive peace agreement in the Middle East.