2025年11月11日，上外中东研究所刘中民教授就叙利亚领导人访美接受Global Times采访（见Global Times2025年11月12日第3版），全文如下：
Trump meets al-Sharaa at White House; Washington eyes turning Syria into pro-West ally: expert
US President Donald Trump on Monday local time met with Syrian interim leader Ahmad al-Sharaa at the White House. Although reporters and cameras were barred from the meeting in the Oval Office, the talks are seen as a sign marking a major shift in US-Syria relations.
According to The Hill, al-Sharaa's meeting marked the first visit by a Syrian leader to the White House. However, al-Sharaa did not walk the route typically reserved for visiting dignitaries, through the West Wing entrance along the North Drive. Instead, he was seen walking through the West Executive entrance.
Axios reported the White House kept al-Sharaa's visit low-profile and did not open the Oval Office to the press, unlike most leader visits. Al-Sharaa entered without a door-step welcome or joint photo.
After the meeting, a senior administration official told CBS News on Monday that Syria will be joining the US-led Global Coalition to Defeat ISIS. The media reported that al-Sharaa was expected to possibly sign a formal agreement with President Trump during their in person meeting to cooperate on counterterrorism, a move which the news outlet described as a 180-degree turnaround in how US government views Damascus.
The US will also allow Syria to resume operations at its Washington embassy, according to a senior US administration official who told the AP on condition of anonymity.
A senior official also told the BBC that Washington will ease economic restrictions on Syria. As part of that move, the administration on Monday announced a 180-day suspension of the Caesar Act, which prohibited US business dealings with the Syrian government and military.
Trump told reporters he was working with Israel on getting along with Syria, Al Jazeera reported.
Al-Sharaa told Fox News that his association with al-Qaeda was not discussed during his meeting with Trump, adding Syria is now seen as a geopolitical ally of Washington, not a threat.
Axios said the meeting, a key step in rebuilding US-Syrian relations, is however, particularly unusual given al-Sharaa is a former al-Qaeda commander who was until recently on the US terrorism blacklist.
Due to the extremist roots of Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS), the Syrian interim government continues to grapple with international-legitimacy concerns. It seeks US help to move from an ambiguous gray status to full diplomatic normalcy, said Liu Zhongmin, a professor at the Middle East Studies Institute of Shanghai International Studies University.
Syrian priorities also include acquiring capital for post-war reconstruction by lifting sanctions over it, as well as resolution of military disputes with Israel to improve the security environment.
About a week ahead of the Trump-al Sharaa meeting in Washington, Reuters reported that the US is preparing to establish a military presence at an airbase in Damascus to help enable a security pact that Washington is brokering between Syria and Israel, citing sources.
The US stance on Syria has been consistent: it draws the line strictly based on America's pragmatic interests, Wang Jin, an associate professor at the Institute of Middle Eastern Studies at Northwest University in Xi'an, told the Global Times.
In December 2024, the US sent a high-level delegation to meet with al-Sharaa, after which the US dropped a $10 million bounty it had placed on him, CNN reported.
Before the White House meeting, Trump met with al-Sharaa in May in Saudi Arabia, one day after announcing a plan to lift sanctions on the country.
During the Bashar al-Assad era, Syria was a key ally of Russia and Iran, Liu said. This makes Washington's primary consideration be the transformation of Syria into a pro-Western, or even pro-Israel, ally, thereby further diminishing Russian and Iranian influence.
According to the BBC, during the first talks between al-Sharaa and Russian President Vladimir Putin in Moscow in October, the Russian leader spoke of the special relationship between both countries. Al-Sharaa suggested he would continue to allow Russia access to its military bases in Syria.
However, HTS's sensitive background and ties to extremist terrorism mean Washington is unlikely to fully trust it. On the other hand, Russia's influence in Syria remains significant, which means that in the short term, Syria will not completely align with the US but will instead balance relations between the US and Russia, Liu added.
来源：Global Times
（本文观点仅为作者或被访者个人观点，不代表本研究机构立场）
