Syria will strike several security and military agreements with Israel by the end of the year, a foreign ministry official told AFP on Thursday, in what would be a major milestone after the toppling of longtime ruler Bashar al-Assad.
Also on Thursday, Foreign Minister Asaad al-Shaibani landed in Washington, state television reported, to conduct the first such visit in more than 25 years.
"There is progress in the talks with Israel," said the ministry official who requested anonymity because he was not allowed to brief the media, adding that several agreements are expected to be signed "by the end of the year".
"Primarily, these would be security and military agreements," he said, adding that there would be a focus on "an agreement to halt (Israeli) military operations inside Syria".
State television meanwhile reported that Shaibani landed in Washington for an official visit, while a foreign ministry source told AFP the purpose of the trip was to discuss the lifting of remaining US sanctions on Syria.
The United States already lifted most sanctions it imposed on Syria during Assad's after an opposition alliance ousted him in December.
The last time a Syrian foreign minister was in Washington was in 1999, when the top diplomat at the time, Farouk al-Sharaa, held talks on peace negotiations with Israel.
The United States has been pushing Syria and Israel to reach an agreement that would halt hostilities between the two countries, technically at war since 1948.
Since December, Israel deployed troops to a UN-patrolled buffer zone that has separates the countries' forces and launched hundreds of strikes in Syria.
It has also engaged in direct negotiations with Syria's new rulers.
