Topline
President Donald Trump met with Syrian President Ahmad al-Shara in Saudi Arabia on Wednesday, a day after announcing plans to lift U.S. sanctions on Syria, offering a significant boost to the country’s new leadership as it attempts to shore up international support after a nearly a decade and a half-long civil war which ended with the ouster of the country’s former leader Bashar al-Assad.
U.S. President Donald Trump meets with Syrian President Ahmed al-Shara along with the Saudi Crown … More
Key Facts
According to the Washington Post, a White House official confirmed the meeting was taking place in Riyadh behind closed doors.
The White House previously suggested the two leaders were set to have a brief meeting just to “say hello,” but the actual meeting lasted 33 minutes, from 10:07 a.m. to 10:40 a.m. local time.
Turkish outlets reported that Saudi Arabia’s crown prince and de facto leader, Mohammed bin Salman, was present at the meeting, while Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan joined via video link.
Erdogan’s office hailed Trump’s “historic” decision to lift the sanctions, and said it would serve as an example for other countries that still have active sanctions against Syria.
After the meeting, Trump addressed the leaders of the Gulf Cooperation Council and said he “felt very strongly” about giving Syria a chance, adding that the “sanctions were really crippling.”
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Crucial Quote
While addressing the leaders of the Gulf Cooperation Council—the regional bloc which includes Saudi Arabia, UAE, Bahrain, Kuwait, Qatar and Oman—Trump said: “We will be dropping all of the sanctions on Syria, which I really think is going to be a good thing. And actually, we made a speech last night, and that was the thing that got the biggest applause from the room.”
This is a developing story.
