Syrian President Ahmed al-Sharaa is traveling to the US after attending an environmental confab in Brazil. As such, he is signaling how Syria wants to play an active role in the international community.
Syria has been working hard in this regard over the last year. For instance, Damascus moved quickly after the fall of the Assad regime to invite European diplomats back to the Syrian capital. Within months, numerous delegations from Europe had arrived.
Syria also worked to build ties with Turkey, Saudi Arabia, and Qatar and secure investment from these states. Ankara had backed the Syrian rebellion and had ties with Hayʼat Tahrir al-Sham, the group that took power after president Bashar al-Assad fell from power.
Saudi Arabia has helped smooth the path to Washington for the Syrian leadership. Riyadh helped arrange a meeting with US President Donald Trump in the spring of 2025 and has also worked to make sure that Damascus and Washington stay the course in terms of ties.
This is despite some rocky starts to the new ties. Syria has been critiqued for not doing enough to stop attacks on minorities, particularly the Druze and Alawites.
In addition, the mostly Kurdish Syrian Democratic Forces control eastern Syria, and there is a desire to see them integrate into the new government’s security forces.
How to accomplish this? The US backs the Syrian Democratic Forces in the fight against ISIS. Therefore, the trip to Washington could bridge these gaps.
An empowered Damascus may have less incentives to cooperate with SDF
There are also concerns that an empowered Damascus will not feel a need to compromise with the SDF. For instance, this would mean centralizing power rather than some kind of federalism.
The US has been looking at these issues over the last months. Turkey, a NATO member, opposes the SDF. Ankara is also working on a new peace process with the Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK), which could aid the SDF-Damascus relationship, because Ankara views the PKK as linked to the SDF.
If Ankara is less concerned about the PKK, then it may prove less concerned about the SDF.
The Syrian president’s trip to Washington comes after Trump met leaders from Central Asia. It also comes as the US is working on a resolution about an international force for Gaza.
Syria is one of the main files the US is working on. This could be important for reducing tensions between Israel and Syria. Israel has backed the Druze in Syria and carried out airstrikes. The White House wants to see a stable Syria and believes Damascus has made good progress so far.