DNA

DAMASCUS: French President Emmanuel Macron arrived Monday in Syria, making him the first major western leader to visit the war-torn country since the ouster of Bashar Assad in 2024.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky visited April but Macron is the first leader from western Europe or North America to do so.

The French president’s visit comes during a period of relative calm in the Middle East after the monthlong war in Iran and Lebanon. He will travel next to Ankara, Turkiye, for the NATO summit, where Syrian President Ahmad Al-Sharaa is also expected to attend and hold a high-profile meeting with US President Donald Trump.

Syria’s state-run SANA news agency said Macron would visit with a business delegation to discuss regional security as well as business and investment opportunities.

Macron was greeted at Damascus airport by Syrian Foreign Minister Asaad Al-Shibani.

Macron hosted Al-Sharaa in Paris in May 2025, where he urged European and US leaders to lift longstanding sanctions on Damascus. Most of those sanctions had since been lifted.