US envoy Thomas Barrack praises interim government in Damascus, calls for ‘dialogue’ between Israel and Syria.
The United States envoy to Syria says the conflict between Israel and Syria is “solvable” as he visited the capital, Damascus and praised the interim government, as the political and economic thaw between the nation and Western powers continues apace.
Thomas Barrack, who raised the flag over the US ambassador’s residence for the first time since it closed in 2012 amid Syria’s civil war, said solving the issues between Syria and Israel needed to start with “dialogue”.
“I’d say we need to start with just a non-aggression agreement, talk about boundaries and borders,” he told journalists on Thursday.
In recent months, the US has begun rebuilding ties with Syria under its new administration.
Earlier in May, the US also lifted sanctions on the country in a surprise announcement, offering a nation devastated by nearly 14 years of war a critical lifeline. The European Union followed suit days later.
Barrack said that Syria would also no longer be deemed by the US as a state sponsor of “terrorism”, saying the issue was gone “with the [former President Bashar al-Assad regime being finished”, but added that the US Congress still had a six-month review period.
“America’s intent and the president’s vision is that we have to give this young government a chance by not interfering, not demanding, by not giving conditions, by not imposing our culture on your culture,” Barrack said.
Reporting from Damascus, Al Jazeera’s Mahmoud Abdel Wahed said the warming ties between Syria, the US and other Western countries were a “major shift in the political dynamic of the region”.
Wahed explained that as Foreign Minister Asaad al-Shaibani continues to meet representatives from Western countries and officials from the European Union and the United Nations, it will bring “a lot of benefits” for the new Syrian administration and the Syrian people.
“This is some kind of recognition of the new leadership – giving a chance to the new leadership to boost its economy, to bring more Western investment to help the government rebuild war-torn Syria,” he added.
Syria-Israel relations
Since the 1967 Arab-Israeli war and Israel’s subsequent occupation of the Syrian Golan Heights, the two countries have had a fraught relationship.
Shortly after al-Assad was deposed in December following a lightning offensive by opposition fighters, Israel seized more Syrian territory near the border, claiming it was concerned about the interim administration led by Ahmed al-Sharaa.
Israel has carried out frequent attacks in Syria both during the al-Assad rule and since his ouster.
During a meeting between US President Donald Trump and al-Sharaa in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, earlier in May, the US leader urged al-Sharaa to normalise relations with Israel.
While al-Sharaa has not commented on possible normalisation with Israel, he has supported a return to the terms of a 1974 ceasefire agreement that created a United Nations buffer zone in the Golan Heights.