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Top Senate Foreign Relations Democrat meets Syrian president at NATO summit

Sen. Jeanne Shaheen discussed lifting remaining U.S. sanctions on Syria, implementing an agreement with the Syrian Democratic Forces and removing Syria from the U.S. list of state sponsors of terrorism.

Syrian President Ahmed al-Sharaa meets with U.S. President Donald Trump (not pictured) on the sidelines of the NATO Summit at Bestepe Presidential Compound in Ankara, Turkey, on July 8, 2026. Photo by Saul Loeb/AFP via Getty Images.
Syrian President Ahmed al-Sharaa meets with U.S. President Donald Trump (not pictured) on the sidelines of the NATO Summit at Bestepe Presidential Compound in Ankara, Turkey, on July 8, 2026. Photo by Saul Loeb/AFP via Getty Images.

Sen. Jeanne Shaheen (D-N.H.), ranking member of the U.S. Senate Foreign Relations Committee and co-chair of the Senate NATO observer group, met with Syrian President Ahmed al-Sharaa on Wednesday on the sidelines of the NATO Summit in Ankara, Turkey, to discuss the future of U.S.-Syria relations.

According to the committee, Shaheen discussed Congress’s repeal of Assad-era Caesar Act sanctions and bipartisan legislation that would eliminate the remaining U.S. sanctions on Syria.

The two also discussed the implementation of the agreement between the Syrian government and the U.S.-backed Syrian Democratic Forces, which the committee described as “an important step toward national reconciliation and a unified Syria.”

Shaheen also reiterated her call for the U.S. State Department to remove Syria from its list of state sponsors of terrorism “in recognition of the new government’s considerable progress in fighting terrorist groups.”

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