Syrian Foreign Minister Asaad Hassan al-Shibani said he will make his first official overseas visit to Saudi Arabia upon the invitation of Saudi Foreign Minister Prince Faisal bin Farhan.
"I am honored to represent my country on my first official visit (to Saudi Arabia),” al-Shaibani said in a statement on his X account on Monday.
"We look forward to building strategic relations with our brothers in the kingdom in all fields,” he added.
Later, during a news conference with his Kuwaiti counterpart Abdullah Al-Yahya, Al-Shaibani said his visit to Saudi Arabia would be in the "first week of the new year.”
He described the visit as a gesture of goodwill and a step toward restoring Syria’s role in the Arab world. He added that he plans to listen to Saudi Arabia's perspectives and accelerate efforts to rebuild his country.
Shaibani was appointed foreign minister on Dec. 21 by the interim Syrian government, becoming the country's first top diplomat since the downfall of the Bashar Assad regime.
Assad, Syria’s leader for nearly 25 years, fled to Russia after anti-regime groups took control of Damascus on Dec. 8, ending the Baath Party’s regime, which had been in power since 1963.
