Donald Trump has just met Ahmad al-Sharaa in Riad. To confirm it was theAssociated Press. This is the first meeting of this type for 25 years now. The meeting took place shortly before the start of the Gulf cooperation council and the day after the tenant of the White House had announced that it wanted to revoke the sanctions to Syria. Second To JazeeraThe Saudi hereditary prince, Mohammad Bin Salman, also took part in the face to face, and, in videoconference, the Turkish president, Recep Tayyip Erdogan. The event is, in itself, historical, even if not risks. In fact, this face to face is part of the pacification effort that Trump is trying to bring to the Middle Eastern region. However, the unknowns remain several.
First of all, according to theAssociated Presslast month, Benjamin Netanyahu had asked the American president not to revoke sanctions from Syria: Despite being satisfied with the fall of Bashar al Assad, the Israeli premier does not trust the new Syrian leader at all. Trump will therefore have to move carefully to safeguard the relationship between the United States and Israel. On the other hand, in its strategy, the carrier with Damascus should be accompanied by the relaunch of the Abraham agreements: not surprisingly, Tuesday Trump hoped that Riad will soon enter to be part of it. Secondly, Al-Sharaa is historically close to the Muslim brotherhood: that Muslim brotherhood that historically is not at all benvista from the American Republican Party. Trump will therefore also have to pay attention to the possible repercussions of internal policy.
That said, it is quite clear how, holding the hand to Al-Sharaa, the American president is carrying out a relaxation against Erdogan: We do not forget that the new leader of Damascus has managed to take power thanks to the fundamental support of Türkiye. It cannot therefore be excluded that Trump is moving by looking at the Ukrainian dossier. The American president has repeatedly said frustrated by Vladimir Putin’s behavior in the diplomatic process dedicated to war in Ukraine. That Putin that saw a clear reduction in the Russian influence in the Middle East following the fall of Assad last year. In this sense, playing on the bank with Erdogan, the tenant of the White House is probably trying to hit the Tsar right on the Middle Eastern front: Moscow knows on the other hand very well that his loss of land in Syria has been mainly due to Ankara’s moves. Trump’s maneuvers could also be explained as a way to put the Kremlin under pressure.
Finally, going beyond the Ukrainian question, it is an objective fact that Saudi Arabia is increasingly revealing the pivot of Middle Eastern politics, carried out by the American president. Riad enjoys good relations with Israel and, especially in recent months, has also strengthened ties with Turkey. As we mentioned, Bin Salman also played a role in the encounter between the American president and Al-Sharaa. In this sense, it is not absurd to hypothesize that Trump is trying to co -opt in some way ankara in the logic of the Abraham agreements. It is therefore probably also in this picture that the relaxation between Washington and Damascus must be read. Only time will tell us if the strategy of the American president will bear fruit.
