Syrian president Ahmed al-Sharaa visits London for bilateral talks

The visit follows al-Sharaa’s stop in Berlin, where he attended a reception hosted by German Chancellor Friedrich Merz.

Speaking after the meeting with al-Sharaa, Merz said Syrian ⁠refugees had made a major contribution in Germany but ⁠most wanted ‌to return to their home country.

Al-Sharaa said: “It is impossible to discuss recovery and reconstruction without addressing the Syrians in Germany. We have 1.3 million Syrians here, including 6,000 doctors working in your hospitals.” 

Diplomatic relations between the UK and Syria were severed during the Bashar al-Assad regime’s crackdown on protests in 2011, which triggered a prolonged civil war.

For nearly 14 years, the Iran-backed regime killed hundreds of thousands of people.

Following a brief rebel offensive that captured Damascus, Assad fled Syria for Russia and al-Sharaa – a leading figure in the militant group Hay’at Tahrir al-Sham (HTS)– was declared president in January 2025.

In 2017, the UK listed HTS as an alias of proscribed organisation Al-Qaeda.

Ties between the UK and Syria began to thaw in July last year when the then foreign secretary David Lammy visited Damascus.

In October 2025, the UK government removed HTS from the list of proscribed terrorist organisations in response to the toppling of the Assad regime the previous December.

Despite the formal end of the civil war, sporadic violence has continued in Syria, including a violent campaign against the country’s Druze minority, who have in recent months been protected by Israeli soldiers.