Syrian President Ahmed Al-Sharaa made a historic visit to the US on Monday to meet Donald Trump, with talks on operations against the Islamic State extremist group, normalisation with Israel, and Caesar Act sanctions all on the cards.
Sharaa became the first Syrian president to visit the White House since the country's independence, in a remarkable turn of events for the one-time Al-Qaeda commander who until recently was on a US bounty list.
We look at five key points from this landmark moment for Syria, amid hopes and uncertainty about the country's future.
Syria joins the US-led anti-IS coalition
Syria has become the latest country to join the international coalition against the Islamic State group, which aims to eliminate the extremist group's presence in the MENA region.
Syria's Information Minister Hamza al-Mustafa announced on X that a "political cooperation declaration" had been agreed with US officials on the issue, making Syria the 90th member of the 'Global Coalition To Defeat ISIS'.
He stressed that "the agreement is political and until now contains no military components", but that it affirms Syria's role in "combating terrorism and supporting regional stability".
The State Department has not yet added Syria to its official list of members, which includes the GCC states, Jordan, Iraq, Lebanon, and Yemen.
The move came as Syrian forces launched raids on suspected IS cells in the country following an alleged threat to President Sharaa's life.
Until last week, Sharaa was on a US terror list with a $10 million bounty on his head, but could now shape up to become a key player in operations against IS.
Hayat Tahrir Al-Sham, the now-dissolved rebel group once led by Sharaa, was descended from the Syrian affiliate of Al-Qaeda, while the president himself was involved in the post-invasion insurgency against US forces in Iraq.
US suspends most sanctions on Syria
The US also announced that it would extend a waiver on most sanctions on Syria - apparently a key aim of Sharaa's visit to Washington.
US Secretary of State Marco Rubio said Washington would suspend some sanctions on Damascus for the next 180 days, but ones related to Russia and Iran will remain in place.
The Syria Civilian Protection Act of 2019, better known as the Caesar Act, imposed punishing sanctions on the former Assad regime over mass human rights violations, including the murder of tens of thousands of political detainees.
Since the fall of the Assad regime, the US and other international powers have maintained sanctions on Damascus, which are viewed as the key obstacle to the rebuilding of post-war Syria.
The sanctions have proved to be a major disincentive for foreign companies looking to export vital goods to Syria or invest in the country, and the future of the country is believed to hinge on these sanctions being permanently removed.
Syria-Israel future
The US has reportedly been pushing Syria to become the latest member of the Abraham Accords, but Sharaa does not appear to be fully on board with the idea of normalisation with Israel.
Syria has no relations with Israel and has ruled out establishing them unless the occupied Golan Heights is returned to Syria and Israeli raids into Syrian territory cease.
Trump has been keen to add more countries to the so-called Abraham Accords - which the UAE, Bahrain, Morocco, and Sudan have signed up to - but the war on Gaza has hindered the expansion of this normalisation plan.
Syria is reportedly one country Trump is keen to get on board, but Sharaa has once again ruled out becoming the latest signatory of the accords jf the status quo continues.
"I believe that the situation in Syria is different from the situation of the countries that signed on to the Abraham Accords," he told Fox News on Monday.
"Syria has borders with Israel, and Israel occupies the Golan Heights since 1967. We are not going to enter into negotiations directly right now. Maybe the United States administration with President Trump will help us reach this kind of negotiation."
Turkey FM in Trump-Sharaa talks
Turkish Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan was a surprise attendee at the Oval Office talks between Trump and Sharaa, highlighting Ankara's key role as a conduit between the two parties.
Fidan made an undisclosed visit to Washington on Sunday and was still around when Sharaa made his historic trip to the US capital.
Following a meeting with his US counterpart Marco Rubio, Fidan was brought into the Trump-Sharaa meeting.
"At a certain point in the meeting we were invited to join," he said.
Fidan did not say what was discussed or why he was invited to the meeting, but Turkey is a strong ally of both Damascus and Washington.
The US has reportedly agreed to a framework for the handover of territories controlled by the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) to government control.
Turkey has been engaged in a series of battles with the SDF, which Ankara believes is linked to the banned Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK).
Not all MAGA happy about Sharaa visit
While many pragmatists in Washington see the courting of Ahmed Al-Sharaa as a smart move in expanding US influence in the MENA region, others in the MAGA camp are unhappy with the outreach.
Key MAGA influencer Laura Loomer took aim at the Trump administration for Sharaa's invitation to the White House, repeatedly linking the Syrian president to IS and referring to him by his former nom de guerre Abu Mohammed Al-Jolani.
She shared a video of her visit to the Israeli-occuped Golan Heights where she met Syrian Druze locals, who spoke of their suspicion of Sharaa and the massacres in Suweida province.
"I voted for bombing ISIS and banning jihadists from coming into our country. Now ISIS is in the White House and I feel like America is being taken over by Muslims," she wrote.
While some in the MAGA camp see Trump's outreach to the new Syrian leadership as a way of drawing Damascus away from Russia, the anti-Islam wing remain firmly anti-Sharaa, falsely equating him with the Islamic State group and the persecution of Christians.
Other Republicans remain aligned with the Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) who control most of northeastern Syria and see the new administration as a threat to this US-backed project in Syria.