Syrian President Ahmed al-Sharaa landed in Riyadh on Tuesday ahead of a highly anticipated meeting with U.S. President Donald Trump.
The meeting, set for Wednesday, comes as Trump, speaking at the 2025 Saudi-U.S. Investment Forum, pledged to lift “brutal and crippling” sanctions on Syria to offer the nation “a chance at greatness.”
This marks Trump’s first major international tour since taking office, with stops in Saudi Arabia, Qatar, and the UAE. Syria’s transitional government, following the fall of Bashar al-Assad’s regime, is seeking broad international support for recovery, stressing that current U.S. and EU sanctions hinder rebuilding.
A full sanctions rollback would be the most significant policy shift since 2011.