Syrian President Ahmad Al-Sharaa is scheduled to meet U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio at 12:45 p.m. Eastern Time on Monday, on the sidelines of the United Nations General Assembly.

The meeting marks a rare high-level engagement between Damascus and Washington after decades of estrangement, with discussions expected to focus on key regional and international issues.

In an interview with CBS News on Sunday, Al-Sharaa expressed his willingness to meet U.S. President Donald Trump again, stressing the importance of restoring bilateral ties in a “direct and positive” manner.