Yasin Gungor
15 May 2025•Update: 16 May 2025
ISTANBUL
US Secretary of State Marco Rubio said Thursday that a peaceful and stable Syria “would be one of the most dramatic improvements in the region in a very long time,” signaling Washington’s support for the country’s new leadership under President Ahmad al-Sharaa.
"This is a historic opportunity, and if it succeeds, we'll have a dramatic transformative effect on the region," Rubio said in the southern Turkish resort city of Antalya.
His remarks followed US President Donald Trump’s meeting Wednesday with al-Sharaa in Riyadh -- an encounter that marked the highest-level US-Syria contact since the Bashar al-Assad regime was ousted in December. Trump, who earlier announced his intention to lift US sanctions on Syria, called the meeting “great.”
Rubio described the new Syrian leadership as being committed to rebuilding the country as a pluralistic society.
He noted Syria has communicated interest in "being at peace with all of their neighbors" and "driving out foreign fighters and terrorists" that would destabilize the country.
Rubio said the US wants to be "helpful," but American assistance would be conditional on Syria taking "steps forward.”
He said: "Obviously, we want to see progress made, and we'll take every step that they take, and it'll be a long road."
Rubio also mentioned the possibility of one day going “to Congress and asking them to permanently remove the sanctions."
"I think we want to start with the initial waiver, which will allow foreign partners who wanted to flow in aid to begin to do so without running the risk of sanctions," Rubio added.
Rubio, who is visiting Türkiye as part of informal NATO foreign ministers meeting, met Thursday with Syrian Foreign Minister Asaad Hassan al-Shaibani along with Turkish Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan in a trilateral meeting in Antalya. After Fidan left, Rubio and al-Shaibani continued talks.
State Department Deputy spokesperson Tommy Pigott also confirmed the administration was “moving now” to implement the president’s decision to lift sanctions.
Asked when and under what conditions the sanctions could be fully removed, Pigott said he had nothing to preview.
“This is about giving Syria an opportunity,” he said. “There have been actions communicated by the president; they were detailed in the readout that the White House put out and have been detailed again from this podium... If Syria takes those actions, we could see a long peace and prosperity.”
Trump announced Tuesday at the 2025 Saudi-US Investment Forum in the capital of Riyadh that he would order the removal of “brutal and crippling” US sanctions on Syria to give that country “a chance at greatness.”
He said he made the decision after his discussions with Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan and Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman.
Trump held his first-ever meeting with Ahmad al-Sharaa in Riyadh on Wednesday, with bin Salman in attendance and Erdogan participating online.
The American president described the meeting as "great" and called al-Sharaa a "tough guy" with a "strong past."
Bashar al-Assad, Syria’s leader for nearly 25 years, fled to Russia on Dec. 8, 2024, ending the Baath Party regime, which had been in power since 1963.
Al-Sharaa, who led anti-regime forces to oust Assad, was declared president in late January.
* Contributions by Iclal Turan in Washington
