US President Donald Trump will host Syrian leader Ahmed al-Sharaa for talks on November 10, the White House announced Tuesday. It will be the first-ever White House visit by a Syrian head of state.

“I can confirm that that meeting will be taking place here at the White House on Monday and this is part of the president’s efforts in diplomacy to meet with anyone around the world in the pursuit of peace,” spokeswoman Karoline Leavitt told a briefing.

Leavitt noted that Trump had announced the lifting of US sanctions on Syria during a trip to the region in May, a move which aimed “to give them a real chance at peace.”

“And I think the administration, we’ve seen good progress on that front, under their new leadership,” she added.

Though it will be Sharaa’s first visit to Washington, it will be his second to the United States after a landmark UN trip in September, where the ex-jihadist became the first Syrian president in decades to address the UN General Assembly in New York. (AFP)