ERBIL, Kurdistan Region - Syrian Foreign Minister Asaad al-Shaibani headed to the United Kingdom on Wednesday, the Damascus foreign ministry announced, just days after he accompanied Syrian interim President Ahmed al-Sharaa on a “historic” visit to Washington - the first by a Syrian president in decades.
In a brief report, the state-run Syrian Arab News Agency (SANA) relayed that Shaibani will hold “talks with a number of British officials during the visit.”
Since the early December ouster of longtime Syrian leader Bashar al-Assad, Syria has sought to reengage with the international community.
London officially re-established diplomatic relations with Damascus in July. The rapprochement was marked by a key visit by then-British Foreign Secretary David Lammy to Damascus - the first by a British foreign minister in 14 years - where he met with Sharaa.
“Eight months on from the collapse of the Assad regime, the UK has officially re-established diplomatic relations with the Syrian government following the Foreign Secretary’s visit to Damascus today,” the UK government commented at the time.
Lammy was then quoted as reaffirming the UK’s commitment to supporting Damascus, stating that the visit aimed “to reiterate the importance of an inclusive and representative political transition in Syria.”
Importantly, Shaibani’s visit to the UK comes just two days after he accompanied Sharaa on a landmark trip to the United States, where they met with US President Donald Trump.
In a statement released late Monday, the Syrian Foreign Ministry described the visit as “historic,” noting that the meeting between Trump and Sharaa was “conducted in a friendly and constructive atmosphere.”
The ministry quoted the US president as expressing “his admiration for the new Syrian leadership and the Syrian people,” while affirming his administration’s “commitment to provide the full support needed by the Syrian leadership to succeed in the path of reconstruction and development in the next phase.”
After meeting Sharaa, Trump told reporters at the Oval Office, “We'll do everything we can to make Syria successful because it's part of the Middle East,” adding that the region now enjoys “peace… for the first time that anyone can remember.”
The US president also described Sharaa as “a very strong leader” and highlighted Washington’s efforts to ease tensions between Damascus and Tel Aviv, saying, “We are also working with Israel on getting along with Syria.”
Sharaa’s meeting with Trump at the White House marked the first visit by a Syrian leader in 80 years, since 1946.
Following the visit, the American embassy in Damascus announced on Tuesday that Syria had officially joined the US-led Global Coalition to Defeat the Islamic State (ISIS).
In a statement on X, the embassy said, “Syria has officially become the 90th partner to join the international coalition to defeat ISIS,” describing it as “a pivotal moment in the history of Syria and the global war against terrorism.”