US envoy returns to Damascus as US-Syria relationship grows

US Envoy Thomas Barrack has arrived in Syria on May 29th, as US-Syrian ties have ramped up in recent weeks.

According to Reuters, Barrack raised the American flag over the ambassador’s residence in Damascus for the first time since the embassy closed in 2012, a year after the civil war broke out.

Barrack is also the US ambassador to Turkey and was named the Syrian envoy on May 23rd, with this current visit the first since his position was given.

This will be seen as a monumental step for the US-Syrian relationship, which has rapidly grown since Trump’s Gulf tour at the beginning of May.

With this new partnership, President Trump has given Syria what he calls a “fresh start” as he revoked sanctions after meeting with Syrian President al-Sharaa on the 14th of May.

This backing by Trump appears to have given Syria international confidence which has been the catalyst for further sanction relief and opening Syria to the West.

The EU, less than a week after Trump’s sanctions relief, removed their own sanctions, which were placed on Assad’s regime, as European foreign policy chief Kaja Kallas called the removal of sanctions an aim to build a “more stable Syria”.

Now, with the US envoy placing the American flag back in the capital of Syria, US-Syrian relations appear to be the strongest they have been for over a decade.

Reuters/Maghrebi.org