Rep. Cory Mills (R-Fla.) said he is “cautiously optimistic” after he met with new Syrian President Ahmed al-Sharaa.
Mills traveled to Damascus last week on an unofficial fact-finding mission, where he held talks with al-Sharaa about economic sanctions and peace between Syria and Israel, Bloomberg reported.
“I am cautiously optimistic and look to maintain open dialogue,” Mills, an army veteran, told the outlet of his visit.
Mills, a close ally of President Trump’s, told the outlet he plans to brief the president and national security adviser Mike Waltz when he returns to the U.S., as well as deliver a letter from al-Sharaa to Trump.
The Florida lawmaker took the trip with a group of influential Syrian Americans who are lobbying the U.S. government to lift the sanctions imposed on the former Syrian administration.
Mills told the outlet that he spoke with al-Sharaa to outline the Trump administration’s expectations for the strict sanctions to be lifted, which the Syrian leader is hoping to facilitate to help his devastated economy and war-torn country via foreign investors. Qatar and Saudi Arabia have shown willingness to help Syria financially but are being blocked from doing so by the U.S. sanctions, Bloomberg noted.
Mills said part of the U.S. conditions would be that any chemical weapons left over from the administration of former President Bashar Assad must be destroyed, and the country would have to coordinate on counterterrorism initiatives with other U.S. allies.
Assad’s regime fell in December to Syrian rebels, ending his nearly 30 years in power.
The country would also have to provide assurances to Israel, which does not trust al-Sharaa and is opposed to the U.S. lifting its sanctions, Bloomberg reported.
Mills’s visit comes just days after the U.S. announced it would be withdrawing hundreds of troops from Syria. The Pentagon argued the shift is a “consolidation” to reflect a changing security environment in the country and highlighted the success of the 2019 Trump-era ISIS defeat.
The Trump administration said the withdrawing of troops would bring U.S. forces down to less than 1,000 over the next few months, though it faces risks, as there’s been an uptick of attacks on American bases in Syria over the last year.
Mills noted to Bloomberg that once Germany and Japan were enemies of the U.S., but “we have to move beyond this if we are to have stabilization” with Syria.
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