Rubio meets Syria's leader in New York as the country's isolation eases further

NEW YORK (AP) — Syrian President Ahmad al-Sharaa met Monday with U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio in New York, expanding relations with the West and further easing his country's isolation as he becomes Syria's first leader to take part in a U.N. high-level meeting in nearly 60 years.

The last time a Syrian head of state attended the U.N. General Assembly gathering of world leaders was in 1967 — before the 50-year rule of the Assad family dynasty. A lightning insurgent offensive led by al-Sharaa ousted Bashar Assad in December and brought nearly 14 years of civil war to an end.

Since then, al-Sharaa has sought to restore ties with Arab countries and the West, where officials were initially wary of his past ties with the al-Qaida militant group. The rebel group he formerly led, Hayat Tahrir al-Sham, was previously designated by the United States as a foreign terrorist group.

President Donald Trump's administration has erased that designation and eased sanctions long imposed on Syria in a bid to ensure the country becomes a stable player in the Middle East following its global isolation under Assad.

Rubio “underscored this opportunity for Syria to build a stable and sovereign nation following President Trump’s historic announcement earlier this year on sanctions relief for the Syrian people,” the State Department said in a statement.

“They discussed ongoing counterterrorism efforts, efforts to locate missing Americans, and the importance of Israel-Syria relations in achieving greater regional security,” the department said.

However, al-Sharaa again expressed doubt that Syria would join the Abraham Accords, which saw several Arab states normalize relations with Israel during Trump's first term. That is even as Syria is in talks with the U.S. and Israel over a potential security arrangement that could be finalized as early as this week.

“There’s a big difference between Syria and those members in the Abraham Accords,” he said earlier Monday at the Concordia Annual Summit, a global affairs forum in New York. “Syria is different. And those who are part of the Abraham Accords are not neighbors to Israel. Therefore, Syria as a neighbor has been subjected to over 1,000 raids, strikes and Israeli incursions.”

He added that “Syria has to be respected in this new era. There are different phases of negotiations with Israel to go back to the truce of 1974.”

The comments from al-Sharaa came in a conversation with retired Gen. David Petraeus, who commanded troops in the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq and previously served as CIA director.

They met in a New York conference hall after fighting on opposite sides of the U.S.-led war in Iraq two decades ago. Al-Sharaa was an al-Qaida militant imprisoned by American forces, while Petraeus was the architect of a military strategy that for a time succeeded in suppressing the extremist group.

At the forum, al-Sharaa praised Trump, whom he met in Saudi Arabia in May, for taking a “bold decision” on lifting many sanctions against Syria. “I think Syria deserves a new opportunity,” al-Sharaa said.

However, some sanctions remain, and the State Department had to waive Assad-era visa restrictions on Syria for al-Sharaa and his delegation so they could participate in the U.N. meeting of world leaders, which kicks off Tuesday.

Al-Sharaa urged the United States to remove the remaining sanctions, saying Syria needs help as it comes out of war and crisis.

“The Syrian people should not be killed another time through the sanctions,” he said. “The Syrian people love work. Lift the sanctions, and don’t worry about them.”

He also met in New York with Sen. Jeanne Shaheen and Rep. Gregory Meeks, ranking Democrats on the foreign relations committees, and Shaheen emphasized that Congress should pass legislation she is co-sponsoring to lift penalties still in place, according to a statement from the Senate committee.

Asked about atrocities committed against members of minorities in the coastal region and the southern province of Sweida that have caused alarm in the U.S. and elsewhere, al-Sharaa said “there was major chaos and everyone made mistakes.”

He noted that for the first time in 60 years, Syria has allowed international fact-finding teams into the country.

“The Syrian state will work on accountability against those found guilty even if they were the closest people to us,” he said.

Associated Press writers James Pollard in New York and Bassem Mroue in Beirut contributed to this report.

Interim Syria President Ahmed al-Sharaa smiles during the Concordia Annual Summit in New York, Monday, Sept. 22, 2025. (AP Photo/Andres Kudacki)

Secretary of State Marco Rubio, right, and Syrian interim President Ahmad al-Sharaa arrive ahead of a meeting at the Lotte New York Palace Hotel, on the sidelines of the 80th United Nations General Assembly at the United Nations headquarters, Monday, Sept. 22, 2025. (Bing Guan/Pool Photo via AP)

Syrian President Ahmed al-Sharaa, left, speaks with former United States Army General David Howell Petraeus, right, during the Concordia Annual Summit, in New York, Monday, Sept. 22, 2025. (AP Photo/Andres Kudacki)

Secretary of State Marco Rubio shakes hands with Syrian interim President Ahmad al-Sharaa at the Lotte New York Palace Hotel, on the sidelines of the 80th United Nations General Assembly at the United Nations headquarters, Monday, Sept. 22, 2025. (Bing Guan/Pool Photo via AP)

CARACAS, Venezuela (AP) — President Donald Trump is set to meet Thursday at the White House with Venezuelan opposition leader María Corina Machado, whose political party is widely considered to have won 2024 elections rejected by then-President Nicolás Maduro before the United States captured him in an audacious military raid this month.

Less than two weeks after U.S. forces seized Maduro and his wife at a heavily guarded compound in Caracas and brought them to New York to stand trial on drug trafficking charges, Trump will host the Nobel Peace Prize laureate Machado, having already dismissed her credibility to run Venezuela and raised doubts about his stated commitment to backing democratic rule in the country.

“She’s a very nice woman,” Trump told Reuters in an interview about Machado. “I’ve seen her on television. I think we’re just going to talk basics.”

The meeting comes as Trump and his top advisers have signaled their willingness to work with acting President Delcy Rodríguez, who was Maduro’s vice president and along with others in the deposed leader's inner circle remain in charge of day-to-day governmental operations.

Rodríguez herself has adopted a less strident position toward Trump and his “America First” policies toward the Western Hemisphere, saying she plans to continue releasing prisoners detained under Maduro — a move reportedly made at the behest of the Trump administration. Venezuela released several Americans this week.

Trump, a Republican, said Wednesday that he had a “great conversation” with Rodríguez, their first since Maduro was ousted.

“We had a call, a long call. We discussed a lot of things,” Trump told reporters. “And I think we’re getting along very well with Venezuela.”

In endorsing Rodríguez, Trump has sidelined Machado, who has long been a face of resistance in Venezuela. She had sought to cultivate relationships with Trump and key advisers like Secretary of State Marco Rubio among the American right wing in a political gamble to ally herself with the U.S. government. She also intends to have a meeting in the Senate on Thursday afternoon.

Despite her alliance with Republicans, Trump was quick to snub her following Maduro’s capture. Just hours afterward, Trump said of Machado that “it would be very tough for her to be the leader. She doesn’t have the support within or the respect within the country. She’s a very nice woman, but she doesn’t have the respect.”

Machado has steered a careful course to avoid offending Trump, notably after winning last year’s Nobel Peace Prize, which Trump coveted. She has since thanked Trump and offered to share the prize with him, a move that has been rejected by the Nobel Institute.

Machado’s whereabouts have been largely unknown since she went into hiding early last year after being briefly detained in Caracas. She briefly reappeared in Oslo, Norway, in December after her daughter received the Nobel Peace Prize on her behalf.

The industrial engineer and daughter of a steel magnate began challenging the ruling party in 2004, when the nongovernmental organization she co-founded, Súmate, promoted a referendum to recall then-President Hugo Chávez. The initiative failed, and Machado and other Súmate executives were charged with conspiracy.

A year later, she drew the anger of Chávez and his allies again for traveling to Washington to meet President George W. Bush. A photo showing her shaking hands with Bush in the Oval Office lives in the collective memory. Chávez considered Bush an adversary.

Almost two decades later, she marshaled millions of Venezuelans to reject Chávez’s successor, Maduro, for another term in the 2024 election. But ruling party-loyal electoral authorities declared him the winner despite ample credible evidence to the contrary. Ensuing anti-government protests ended in a brutal crackdown by state security forces.

Janetsky reported from Mexico City. AP Diplomatic Writer Matthew Lee in Washington contributed to this report.

FILE - U.S. President George Bush, right, meets with Maria Corina Machado, executive director of Sumate, a non-governmental organization that defends Venezuelan citizens' political rights, in the Oval Office of the White House, Washington, May 31, 2005. (AP Photo/Charles Dharapak, File)

FILE - Opposition leader Maria Corina Machado gestures to supporters during a protest against President Nicolas Maduro the day before his inauguration for a third term, in Caracas, Venezuela, Thursday, Jan. 9, 2025. (AP Photo/Ariana Cubillos, file)