Syrian President Expected to Visit Kuwait Soon

Syrian President Al-Sharaa welcoming Kuwaiti Foreign Minister Abdullah Al-Yahya in December (Syrian Presidency)
Syrian President Al-Sharaa welcoming Kuwaiti Foreign Minister Abdullah Al-Yahya in December (Syrian Presidency)
TT

Syrian President Expected to Visit Kuwait Soon

Syrian President Al-Sharaa welcoming Kuwaiti Foreign Minister Abdullah Al-Yahya in December (Syrian Presidency)
Syrian President Al-Sharaa welcoming Kuwaiti Foreign Minister Abdullah Al-Yahya in December (Syrian Presidency)

A diplomatic source told a Kuwaiti newspaper that Syrian President Ahmad Al-Sharaa has expressed interest in visiting Kuwait in the near future. This came during the recent visit of Kuwaiti Foreign Minister Abdullah Al-Yahya to Damascus.

The same source informed Al-Qabas that a Gulf ministerial meeting is scheduled to take place in Makkah during Ramadan, under Kuwait’s chairmanship, with Syrian Foreign Minister Asaad Al-Shibani invited to attend.

Following the fall of the previous Syrian regime, Damascus has seen a steady influx of regional and Western officials engaging in discussions with the new leadership to assess the country’s evolving policies. As part of his diplomatic outreach, Al-Sharaa has already visited Saudi Arabia and Türkiye.

On Saturday, Al-Sharaa and Al-Shibani met with a high-ranking Algerian delegation led by Foreign Minister Ahmed Attaf.

According to a statement by the Algerian Foreign Ministry, Attaf conveyed Algeria’s full support for efforts to unify the Syrian people and affirmed his country’s readiness to contribute, both bilaterally and as the Arab representative on the UN Security Council, to rebuilding Syrian institutions and fostering security, stability, and economic growth.

The ministry noted that the meeting was an opportunity to reinforce long-standing ties between Syria and Algeria, as well as to discuss the latest developments in Syria and the broader region.

During a visit to Damascus in December, the Kuwaiti Foreign Minister urged the international community to lift sanctions on Syria. He also emphasized that the country’s security is an essential pillar of regional stability, adding that the visit marked a new era of constructive Gulf-Syrian engagement.



Saudi Arabia to Host Talks between US, Russian, Ukrainian Officials on Monday

Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelenskiy gestures as he attends a press conference, amid Russia's attack on Ukraine, in Kyiv, Ukraine March 12, 2025. (Reuters)
Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelenskiy gestures as he attends a press conference, amid Russia's attack on Ukraine, in Kyiv, Ukraine March 12, 2025. (Reuters)
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Saudi Arabia to Host Talks between US, Russian, Ukrainian Officials on Monday

Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelenskiy gestures as he attends a press conference, amid Russia's attack on Ukraine, in Kyiv, Ukraine March 12, 2025. (Reuters)
Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelenskiy gestures as he attends a press conference, amid Russia's attack on Ukraine, in Kyiv, Ukraine March 12, 2025. (Reuters)

Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelenskiy said on Thursday Ukrainian experts would be present at upcoming talks in Saudi Arabia involving the United States and Russia, but will not be in the same room as Russia, as a diplomatic push to end the war intensifies.

Russian and US experts are due to discuss ways to ensure the safety of shipping in the Black Sea at talks on a possible peace settlement in Saudi Arabia on Monday, the Kremlin said.

"There will be technical teams present there," Zelenskiy said during a visit to Norway.

"I understand that the structure is the following: there will be a meeting of Ukraine and America and then some shuttle diplomacy, as our American colleagues said, America with Russia," he told a press conference with Norway's premier.

Zelenskiy said on Wednesday Kyiv would draw up a list of facilities that could be subject to a partial ceasefire brokered by Washington. That list could include not only energy, but also rail and port infrastructure, he said.

Negotiators from Moscow and the US will meet Monday in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, Russian President Vladimir Putin's foreign affairs adviser Sergei Ushakov told Russian news agencies.

US President Donald Trump and Zelenskiy agreed on Wednesday to work together to end Russia's war with Ukraine, in what the White House described as a "fantastic" one-hour phone call, their first conversation since their Oval Office shouting match that resulted in a short-term cutoff in US military aid and intelligence to Kyiv.

Trump said on Thursday the United States will sign a minerals and natural resources deal with Ukraine shortly and that his efforts to achieve a peace deal for the country were going "pretty well" after his talks this week with the Russian and Ukrainian leaders.

Ukraine and the US said this month they had agreed to conclude as soon as possible a comprehensive agreement for developing Ukraine's critical mineral resources, which Trump sees as a means to pay back the United States for its assistance to Kyiv.