ANTALYA, Turkey, May 16, 2025 (BSS/AFP) - US Secretary of State Marco Rubio said Thursday Syria's new leadership wanted peace with Israel as he met its top diplomat following a US decision to ease sanctions.

Rubio met in Turkey with Syria's foreign minister to discuss further normalisation of relations following a meeting between President Donald Trump and Ahmed al-Sharaa, a former Islamist guerrilla turned interim president.

"We think that a peaceful, stable Syria would be one of the most dramatic improvements in the region in a very long time, and we want to do everything we can to help achieve that," Rubio told reporters after the talks.

US ally Israel has voiced pessimism about Sharaa and has pounded its historic adversary Syria with military strikes, much as it did in the run-up to longtime leader Bashar al-Assad's overthrow in December.

But Rubio, like Trump, said the new Syrian leadership was open to normalisation with Israel -- a major priority in the United States.

"They've expressed an interest in being at peace with all of their neighbours, including Israel," said Rubio, who spoke Thursday by telephone with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.

The Syrians have given no such public indications of wanting to recognise Israel.

The Syrian foreign ministry in a statement said Foreign Minister Asaad al-Shaibani spoke to Rubio about "the details of lifting US sanctions on Syria, improving relations between Damascus and Washington, and discussing ways to build a strategic partnership".

Rubio said the Syrian leadership, which has members once linked to Al-Qaeda, sought a "pluralistic society in which all the different elements of Syrian society are able to live together".

- 'A long road' -

Since the overthrow of Assad, a largely secular ruler who belonged to the Alawite community, Syria has seen major attacks on both the Alawite and Druze minorities.

Rubio said the Syrians also voiced an "interest in driving out foreign fighters and terrorists and others that would destabilise the country".

"They've asked for our help, and so we're going to try to help them now," Rubio said.

"It'll be a long road, because it's been a long time, so we recognise that, but this is a historic opportunity," he said.

Rubio, who was in the resort of Antalya in southern Turkey for a NATO meeting, met jointly with the Syrian top diplomat and Turkish Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan, along with senior officials from all three countries.

Turkey was a major supporter of the Islamist guerrillas as they overthrew Assad and, with Saudi Arabia, has pushed for an easing of US sanctions that seriously impede investment and financial transfers from the millions of Syrians who fled during the country's brutal civil war.

Trump, on a visit to Riyadh on Tuesday, said he would lift sanctions, saying he wanted to give Syrians "a chance at greatness".

Trump, always in tune with public reaction, throughout his Gulf trip has noted how he received a standing ovation during the announcement before an investment forum.

He called Sharaa -- once on a US wanted list but now clad in a suit -- a "young, attractive guy".

It was the first time a US president met Syria's top leader since Bill Clinton went to Geneva in 2000 to speak to Hafez al-Assad, Bashar's father, in an unsuccessful attempt to push a peace deal between Syria and Israel.