Trump, Al-Sharaa back Syria’s unity, Kurdish rights in phone call

In a phone conversation on January 19, Syrian President Ahmed al-Sharaa and US President Donald Trump expressed a shared desire for a “strong and unified” Syria, the Syrian presidency said.

Al-Sharaa and Trump “expressed their shared aspiration to see a strong and unified Syria, capable of confronting regional and international challenges,” the Syrian presidency said, according to Arab media.

The two urged preserving the rights of Kurdish people ‍within the Syrian state and ‍agreed to ‍continue cooperation ⁠to ‌combat the ISIS, ‍the presidency added.

The call came a day after Syria’s government signed a sweeping integration agreement with the Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF), although tensions persisted the following day.

Al-Sharaa and Trump “emphasised the importance of preserving Syria’s territorial integrity and independence, and supporting all efforts aimed at achieving stability,” the Syrian presidency said.

The Syrian presidency said the discussion stressed the importance of “giving Syria a new opportunity to move toward a better future.”

The call came soon after Sharaa met with SDF commander in chief Mazlum Kobane to finalise the ceasefire agreement that was announced on January 18. The ceasefire agreement, which was hailed by US Syrian envoy Tom Barrack as a historic step, effectively amounted to the SDF’s capitulation to nearly all of Damascus’ demands under the integration deal signed by the two leaders in March 2025, Al-Monitor writes.

Kobane signed the deal, albeit using an online signature, on Sunday, as Syrian government forces pushed the SDF out of its majority-Arab strongholds of Raqqa, Tabqa and Deir ez-Zor, where most of Syria’s oil is located.

The sources briefing Al-Monitor said Sharaa had brought forward new demands during his meeting with Kobane, among them a request that the SDF hand over control of al-Hasakeh. The SDF leader reportedly declined, noting that the text of the ceasefire agreement had been signed on January 18 and that further concessions were not acceptable.

By Khagan Isayev