Syria’s Jihadi President Gives Ukraine’s Zelensky Red Carpet Treatment in Damascus

President Volodymyr Zelensky visited Damascus, Syria, on Sunday, receiving a warm welcome from President Ahmed al-Sharaa and reportedly discussing cooperation on food and security exchanges.

Zelensky and Sharaa met once before, in New York, while both were attending the United Nations General Assembly in September. Both their countries have experienced significant aggression by both Iran and Russia – Ukraine is facing an ongoing Iran-backed Russian invasion, while Syria endured over a decade of civil war in which both Iran and Russia supported deposed dictator Bashar Assad. On the groundwork of these shared experiences, Sharaa and Zelensky appear to be pursuing closer collaboration.

Their partnership is especially unique given Zelensky’s status as one of the world’s few Jewish heads of state and Sharaa’s recent past as an al-Qaeda-affiliated jihadist. Prior to becoming the leader of Syria, Sharaa used the jihadist nom de guerre “Abu Mohammed al-Jolani” and ran Hayat Tahrir