Trump meets the president of Syria a day after promise to lift American sanctions

President Trump held an extraordinary meeting with the president of Syria, Ahmed al-Sharara, a day after he announced that the United States would increase sanctions against his country-a movement that would enlighten the economic stranglehold on a nation that is seen as central in the stability of the Middle East.

It was the first time in 25 years that the leaders of the two countries had met, and another milestone in the attempt by Syria to reintegrate after decades of isolation in the international community. The two men spoke about half an hour just before a top of golf leaders in Saudi Aarabia, said an official of the White House.

Mr. Trump told Mr. Al-Shara that “he has a huge opportunity to do something historically in his country,” said a summary of the meeting of the Pers Secretary of the White House, Karoline Leavitt. The president also insisted on Mr. Al-Sharara to take steps to normalize Syria’s relations with Israel, which have long been violentAnd to ‘tell all foreign terrorists to leave the country’, the summary said.

Mr. Trump met Mr. Al-Shara at the invitation of Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, the actual ruler of Saudi Arabia, who participated in the meeting.

President Recep Tayyip Erdogan of Turkey, who supported the rebellion that Mr Al-Sharara brought to power, accompanied by telephone. Prince Mohammed and Mr Erdogan had both insisted Mr Trump to lift the sanctions on Syria, and they praised the move in the meeting on Wednesday, where the crown prince described it as ‘courageous’, according to the summary of the White House.

The meeting was also a stunning turnaround for Mr Al-Sharara, an ex-militant who led the rebel alliance that the dictator Bashar al-Assad drove in December, and who once led a branch of Al Qaida before he broke ties with the Jihadist group and wanted to moderate his image. The United States have referred to the militant group of Mr Al-Sharara as a terrorist organization, and it dropped its offer of a reward of a maximum of $ 10 million for information about him, only five months ago.

A statement from the Syrian Ministry of Foreign Affairs described the meeting as ‘historical’ and said that Mr. Trump ‘had confirmed that the administration in Washington is committed to playing a positive and constructive role during this sensitive period’.

Prince Faisal bin Farhan, the Saudi Minister of Foreign Affairs, said on Wednesday at a press conference that Syria’s “many opportunities, capacities and resources” were “one of the most important points of discussion” during the meeting. “It has resources, and more importantly, it has a capable people: a well -trained, expert population who wants to move Syria to a new phase,” he said.

The meeting took place on the second day of the four-day tours tour of Mr. Trump, the first major foreign trip of his second term. The first day largely focused business dealsIncluding for defense equipment and artificial intelligence infrastructure.

Mr. Trump has cultivated close diplomatic and business relationships with Saudi Aarabia, and the pleasant relationships offered Gulf leaders the opportunity to urge sanctions against Syria, who consider many of them to be critical to limit the economic collapse of the burgers that would further prevent that that would be further conflict.