Trump to declare Syria ‘state that doesn't sponsor terrorism’: US envoy

DAMASCUS

This handout picture released by the official Syrian Arab News Agency (SANA) shows interim President Ahmed al-Sharaa (CR), Foreign Minister Assaad al-Shibani (R), and US special envoy for Syria Thomas Barrack (CL) attending a deal signing ceremony between Syria and a Qatari, US, and Turkish energy consortium, in Damascus on May 29, 2025

President Donald Trump will soon declare Syria a state that does not sponsor terrorism, U.S. envoy to Syria Thomas Barrack said Thursday.

Barrack, who arrived in Damascus on Thursday, said Trump's goal is to empower the current Syrian government.

He added that the U.S. Congress backs Trump's steps on Syria.

The envoy told the Saudi-funded Al-Arabiya television that the U.S. believes peace between Syria and Israel is achievable, suggesting it should commence with a non-aggression agreement and a definition of borders and boundaries.

“Only a week after President Trump’s announcement to lift sanctions, we have already unlocked billions of dollars of international investment for Syria,” Barrack later wrote on X.

He added that “the $7 billion U.S.-Türkiye-Qatar energy deal in Damascus today is the first major example of regional partnerships and co-operation to carve a new path.”

“Thanks to U.S. President Donald Trump, Syria is OPEN FOR BUSINESS, and thanks to Qatar and Türkiye, the old boundaries and borders are collapsing. Commerce not chaos!” said Barrack.

The U.S. president ordered the lifting of sanctions on Syria earlier this month.

On Thursday, the U.S. envoy met with Syrian President Ahmad al-Sharaa in Damascus, the state news agency SANA said, without giving details about the content of the meeting.

The meeting came after Barrack, along with Syrian Foreign Minister Asaad Al-Shaibani, opened the U.S. ambassador’s residence in Damascus which had been closed since 2012, following Syria’s revolution against the Bashar al-Assad regime one year earlier.

According to an Anadolu Agency reporter, Barrack raised the American flag over the residence for the first time since the embassy closed in 2012, marking a new era of relations with Syria after the ouster of the Assad regime.

Last month, Trump met with Sharaa in Riyadh during his trip to Saudi Arabia, the first such meeting between U.S. and Syrian leaders in 25 years.

U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio told lawmakers last week that Washington supports efforts to help the new Syrian government succeed, warning that failure could lead to further war and regional instability.

Assad, Syria’s leader for nearly 25 years, fled to Russia in December, ending the Baath Party regime, which had been in power since 1963.

Sharaa, who led anti-regime forces to oust Assad, was declared president for a transitional period in late January.

Barrack urges Syria-Israel non-aggression pact

Barrack also called for a non-aggression agreement between Syria and Israel, describing their conflict as a "solvable problem".

 Barrack said the two sides could "start with just a non-aggression agreement, talk about boundaries and borders" to rebuild ties.

Syria and Israel have technically been at war since 1948. Israel seized the Golan Heights from Syria in 1967 and has carried out hundreds of strikes and several incursions since the overthrow of Bashar al-Assad in December.

Sharaa said earlier this month his administration was holding indirect talks with Israel to calm tensions.

On May 8 in France, Sharaa said Syria was holding "indirect talks through mediators" with Israel to "try to contain the situation so it does not reach the point where it escapes the control of both sides."