The new president of Syria, Ahmed al-Sharaa, expressed his willingness to move toward a normalization of ties with Israel, according to U.S. Congressman Cory Mills in an interview with Bloomberg conducted on Thursday, after having a meeting with Sharaa in Syria last week.
Mills detailed that during the meeting, they discussed the possible conditions for lifting the economic sanctions imposed by the United States on the Syrian regime, as well as the possibility of reaching a peace agreement with Israel.
According to the Republican legislator, Sharaa expressed that Syria would be willing to consider its adherence to the Abraham Accords, provided that "the right conditions" are met.
According to Cory Mills, the Syrian leader would also be willing to explain how he plans to address the presence of foreign Islamic terrorists who still remain active in Syria, and to offer guarantees to Israel, which keeps a strong distrust toward the new leadership in Damascus and rejects any attempt to ease the sanctions.
The new Islamist government of Syria intensified pressure on the United States and European countries to achieve the total lifting of sanctions, with the aim of reviving an economy deeply deteriorated after more than a decade of civil war.
Mills, who is part of the Foreign Affairs and Armed Services Committees in the House of Representatives, traveled along with Congressman Marlin Stutzman from Indiana to the Syrian capital last Friday. The visit marked the first arrival of U.S. legislators in Syria since Bashar al-Assad was overthrown in December by a rebel offensive led by Islamist sectors.
In a conversation with Bloomberg, Mills indicated that he will bring President Donald Trump a letter written by Sharaa, although he did not provide details about its content. He also assured that he will report on his trip to both the president and the national security advisor, Mike Waltz.
Both Cory Mills and Marlin Stutzman, Republican congressmen aligned with President Donald Trump, toured areas of Damascus severely affected by years of conflict, held meetings with representatives of the local Christian community, and expressed their intention to engage in dialogue with other members of the Syrian cabinet.
