President Trump Wednesday on his second day during his trip in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, called on Syrian President Ahmad al-Sharaa to establish ties with Israel.
Mr. Trump met with the Syrian president in Riyadh at the invitation of Saudi Arabia’s Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman.
President Recep Tayyip Erdogan of Turkey, who joined both leaders by phone, praised Mr. Trump for offering to lift sanctions on Syria and made a commitment to work with Saudi Arabia to promote peace and prosperity in Syria.
The U.S. and other nations imposed Syrian sanctions, namely to address the previous Syrian regime’s human rights abuses and support for terrorism, including the use of chemical weapons, torture and indiscriminate detention.
Mr. Trump cited the 2024 fall of Syrian President Bashar Assad when he announced the lifting of the sanctions and the need for the country to rebuild.
According to a readout provided by White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt, Mr. Trump urged Mr. al-Sharaa to sign on to the Abraham Accords with Israel, a 2020 agreement negotiated by the U.S. with the United Arab Emirates and Bahrain.
As part of the agreements, the UAE and Bahrain recognized Israel’s sovereignty and established full diplomatic relations.
The historic agreement was the first time Israel had set forth diplomatic relations with an Arab country since 1994, with the Israel-Jordan peace treaty.
Mr. Trump later delivered remarks at the Gulf Cooperation Council and reiterated his goal to make a deal with Iran and called for more progress on the Abraham Accords.
He lauded the UAE and Bahrain for “their vision and courage in signing the historic Abraham Accords.”
“In the future, we’ll continue that progress by adding more countries to the Abraham Accords,” Mr. Trump said.
Mr. al-Sharaa affirmed his commitment to the 1974 disengagement with Israel.
He concluded with his hope that Syria would serve as a critical link in facilitating trade between east and west, and he invited American companies to invest in Syrian oil and gas.
“I want to make a deal with Iran. I want to do something if possible. But for that to happen, it must stop sponsoring terror, halt its bloody proxy wars, and permanently and verifiably cease its pursuit of nuclear weapons. They cannot have a nuclear weapon,” Mr. Trump said.
Mr. Trump told the GCC that he was grateful for their help to bring the conflict in Gaza to an end and secure the release of American hostage Edan Alexander.
“In Gaza, my administration shares the hope of so many in this region for the future of safety and dignity of the Palestinian people,” he said. “But that cannot happen as long as Gaza’s leaders take delight in raping, torturing and murdering innocent people — can’t have it.”
Mr. Trump also recommended that Mr. al-Sharaa push out all foreign terrorists from Syria, specifically deporting all Palestinian terrorists, and help the U.S. prevent the resurgence of the Islamic State, which included assuming responsibility for ISIS detention centers in Northeast Syria.
Mr. al-Sharaa thanked Mr. Trump, the crown prince and Mr. Erdogan for their efforts to put together the meeting and recognized the significant opportunity presented by the Iranians leaving Syria, as well as shared U.S.-Syrian interests in countering terrorism and eliminating chemical weapons.
Syria described the meeting between Mr. al-Sharaa and Mr. Trump as “historic” and said the American leader “affirmed his country’s commitment to standing by Syria at this critical juncture.”
• Jeff Mordock contributed to this report
