Barbara Leaf

US Special Envoy for Syria Meets Shareh in Damascus

The US Special Envoy for Syria, Thomas Barrack, arrived in Damascus on Thursday, according to Syria’s official news agency SANA, marking a new stage in the normalization of relations between the two countries following the fall of Bashar al-Assad. He is currently meeting Syrian interim President Ahmad al-Shareh. Barrack, who also serves as the ...

Blinken to Meet Europeans on Syria Pathway

US Secretary of State Antony Blinken will meet his European counterparts Thursday in Rome on Syria, as the West looks to engage the new Islamist-led leadership. Blinken will "meet with European counterparts to advocate for a peaceful, inclusive, Syrian-led and Syrian-owned political transition", a State Department statement said as he visited ...

US diplomats visit Syria to meet new rulers

US diplomats have arrived in Syria to speak directly to the new rulers, hoping to encourage a moderate, inclusive path and to find clues on missing Americans, the State Department said Friday. It is the first formal US diplomatic mission to Damascus since the early days of the brutal civil war that broke out in 2011 and culminated in a surprise ...

Southern Front: Washington Warns of High Risk of Escalation

United States Assistant Secretary of State for Near Eastern Affairs Barbara Leaf warned Wednesday of  "high degree of volatility" on the border between Lebanon and Israel, commenting that "the potential for escalation is acute". "We have of course cautioned Israel regarding its response to the attacks that Hezbollah initiated in the initial ...

Barbara Leaf: US Keen on Diplomatic Solution in Southern Lebanon

US Assistant Secretary of State for Near Eastern Affairs Barbara Leaf underlined in a press briefing on Thursday the formidable challenges facing the region since October 7, stressing, however, that Washington is keen and committed to finding a lasting settlement for the Palestinian-Israeli conflict and a diplomatic solution on the Lebanon-Israel ...